Hearing Althea
by BlueDreamer31
Summary: She's annoying. He's cocky. She does what she wants. He plays by society's rules. She's eccentric. He's overconfident. She hates him. He hates her. What happens when these two wrecks crash together with the force of a hurricane? But not everything is as it seems. In a world where you either follow the rules or become bitter and opinionated, can one really learn how to be happy?
1. Chapter 1

We all like doing whatever we want every once in a while. The freedom to do as you wish without anyone being able to stand in your way. Most people pause after a couple of days and then revert back to the normal person society wanted you to be. But I'd always liked that feeling a little too much. To the point where, one day, I just decided never to stop.

People stared at me weirdly, and I personally saw myself as an outcast too – because that's what I was. But it was ok. Who cared what the rest of the drones did and said, when they were all being controlled by their herd mentality? They were all horses, being directed around the track by the same people, and getting spooked by the same rabbits, and being happy when they were given the same snacks.

That isn't the only reason though. Sometimes it comes off a little bit crazy when I say this, but my thoughts are too loud. Daydreams jump up from nowhere, rendering the rest of my senses useless. It's like I'm no longer there. And oftentimes those thoughts increase in size and volume in my mind until I feel as if not getting them out will cause me to break down. They press against the sides of my head, drive me in circles, force me to forget the outside world. And if I do nothing about them, they start slowly taking over reality until all that exists is them and me and an endless sea of white around me.

I used to try to calm down by staring at the sky. That helped, but not for long. The silence becomes so deafening that I feel as if I can hear leaves ruffling and grass bristling and stars scraping against the night sky. And instead of roaring thoughts and thundering dreams which make my head spin, I'm surrounded by a cacophony of sound that seems to drown me from the outside. I never stopped watching stars though, I wouldn't let my head win.

My parents didn't agree with my method of relieving the pressure. They always told me to follow rules and be society's little slave. But how could I do that when most of the time I didn't even understand those rules? I envied those people that knew how to act and when, yet at the same time I refused to become one of them.

Their lives must be so boring, without being constantly surrounded by thoughts that seem too noisy and colours that are too bright. Feelings which glitter but aren't gold, and feelings that darken but are too hard to ignore. Clouds that glide and grass that whispers. Stars that glimmer and twinkle even in the light of day. It was all driving me insane, but, at the same time, if all I heard was resounding silence I'd feel empty. What is the world without all of those thoughts, noises, feelings? Without all the things that make me forget reality? It would just be a hollow shell to me. Although, I supposed that was saying something, if the world stopped being the world when I went back to reality.

However, after all that time trying to find a way to drown out the noises, I found someone who heard them too. Someone who didn't really care what I dressed like, or how I laughed, or whether I heard stars and felt colours. He was trapped, just like I was, in this world of pressure and expectations which can't be met.

His name was Ian Benedict. And I taught him how to say 'fuck you' to the world, whilst he taught me to forget the world. I showed him the stars, and he showed me how to let others in. But, most importantly, he taught me that it wasn't wrong of me to want to run away. That I didn't need to be in pain or afraid or uncomfortable to want to leave my life. Because to want to fly, all you need to be is alive.

So we did. Together, we flew off into the sunset. He, my prince, said in the most sarcastic way possible, and me, his princess. Both with sardonic smiles on our faces and a bitter attitude to life, had somehow found love within each other.

 **Hi :)**

 **Right, before I get into all the details, I want to mention who Ian is. He's Crystal and Xav's son. They both live in New York, but Ian will be living with Sky and Zed in this book (why that is, you'll just have to discover later ;) )**

 **So, last week (was it last week? I can't remember for the life of me xD ) I posted a chapter in Fixing Petal which included a character I've been interested in. After seeing all of your lovely reviews about her, I decided to give her her own story :) If you want to check out her introduction in Fixing Petal, that'll be in chapter 22 (I think).**

 **But yeah, I hope you guys like it :) Tell me what you think so I'll know if it's worth continuing.**

 **Also, I should mention that this story will include quite a bit of swearing, both from Ian and Althea, so sorry 'bout that :) If it's really a bother, just PM me and I'll see what I can do.**

 **Bye bye :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Putting the lollipop in my mouth, I continued on my walk to school, slightly humming to myself. I was running a little late so I had the entire street to myself, my ballet flats against the concrete being the only noise. It was relaxing, allowing a smile to pull up the corners of my lips. I wasn't going to lie, I hated having to be around people, especially with the looks they always gave me. By a number of people I'd intimidated you'd expect me to be dressed up as a velociraptor or something. But that was ok, I wanted them to stay away anyway.

An image of me in a velociraptor costume rose in my mind, and I had to fight back a laugh. Sometimes my random thoughts are a little intrusive of my personal life. To the point where I felt as if a screen appeared before my eyes, blocking out everything else. I described it as my thoughts being loud, but people didn't like that description. I was labelled crazy very quickly.

"Althea!" Looking up, I saw I'd arrived at the school in the time it'd taken me to have my whole mental discussion. Waving back at Maisee, I made my way through the gate. I studiously ignored how everyone was looking at me, instead focusing on my only friend. The only reason I'd thought of keeping her around was due to her mousy nature. But after Maisee had come out of her shell I'd actually found that she was a really good friend. We'd even gone out a couple of times for coffee and I hadn't minded, surprisingly enough. Although, then again, coffee _is_ ridiculously good. It makes me forget all about judgy teenagers and noisy thoughts.

"Hey Mais." Giving her a hug, I was quick to notice her pesky boyfriend, who always seemed glued to her arm. "Gray." I always said hello to him in the same cold way but I couldn't care less, he really pissed me off for some reason.

"Can't you two play nice for _one_ day?" I could understand her abhorrence to having us fighting all the time, as I was sure that they were soulfinders, but I couldn't help myself. I lived to do what I felt was right, not to be pressured into situations by others. So when someone asked me to do something, it was in my instinct to refuse. Then I'd do it or not, but, at least, there wouldn't be any expectations on the subject.

Gray Benedict was part of the huge family of savants who ruled over The Net in America. They didn't know much about my family – even though I was marked down as one of the savants in the area – due to not being interesting enough for them. Our powers were good, but not ideal enough for the _perfect_ family. It was part of the reason for me hating him. They believed themselves rock stars amongst the rest of us, mere peasants.

Standing up straighter, I pushed my shoulders back and imagined myself at the top of the world, no one able to stop me or get in my way. For a second, I held that image in my mind, until the idea of being a puny ant beside Gray disappeared altogether. I bet he wasn't even aware of me being a savant, simply because he hadn't been bothered to read the records.

In my little mental rant, I managed to zone out again, meaning I re-joined the conversation in the middle of Maisee talking about someone's cousin. Bored, I yawned, not bothering to listen to the rest of it.

"Althea? You ok?"

"Huh?" Pretending I'd totally been listening, I leaned against the fence. Taking my lollipop out of my mouth, I twirled it around my fingers as I thought of a way of assuring her that I knew what she'd been talking about. "Yeah, I'm fine. So what were you saying? About… Um, Gray's cousin?" Making a guess as to whose cousin it was, I seemingly got it right, if her bright smile was anything to go by.

"I really do hope he fits in here. I mean he doesn't look like the type to be isolated but I'm still hoping for his sake that he finds a nice group of friends." Nodding along to her words, I thought about what she was saying. Maisee mostly had no idea of social standings. In her mind, everyone was either popular or… Not popular, I suppose. So if she was describing him as 'not the type' to get bullied then that meant he was popular. Very much so. I'd be staying away from him then.

Before we could continue the conversation, the bell rang, signalling the start of homeroom. With a quick wave, I was on my way towards the English block, knowing I couldn't risk being late. I'd already been tardy this week at least 4 times – and it was only Wednesday. I couldn't help it if on my way towards a classroom I saw something that interested me and went to investigate. My savant power was, after all, to see the sentimental value of things. When I found an object up to the brim with love or hatred or another strong emotion I didn't have a choice – I _had_ to see why.

Like the other day whilst walking down the street. I'd found a spot on the ground that was glowing a bright, hot pink. The colour of love. Curious, I swept down to get a closer look, finding an intricate wedding ring that must've been dropped by someone. Knowing it must be really valued – simply by looking at the intensity of its aura – I forgot what I'd been doing completely (shopping for groceries) and spent the rest of the day looking for its owner. I found them at a police station, both looking so distraught that my futile day of searching had paid off by seeing both their faces happy again. Both men thanked me profusely but I just brushed it off. I'd simply been curious as to who it belonged to, that's all.

Noticing I had stopped walking whilst thinking, I looked around me, finding a deserted hallway. Cursing under my breath, I started sprinting towards classroom 12. My thoughts having cut me off from reality wouldn't be taken well as an excuse, but if I hurried, I might still make it. Turning sharply around the corner, I went to keep running, when I collided with someone else. Before we could both fall, I reached out my arms to steady myself, and somehow managed to end up pushing him – with me landing on top.

"Sorry." Not bothering with any other words, I went to stand up when my gaze riveted up to the person's eyes. By now it had become plainly apparent that he was a guy, and that he was _ridiculously_ attractive. His grey-blue eyes pulled me in, leaving me speechless for a minute. It was as if a storm was held in his irises, fading out into a calm sea the closer you got to his pupils.

"It's ok." His voice snapped me out of my reverie as I tried to reign in my overactive imagination. Millions of stories of sailors going out to sea and being trapped by the thunderstorms in his eyes sprung to mind, but I pushed them all back. I had to focus. I didn't like people. Especially attractive people who looked like they thought the world revolved around their being.

"Shouldn't you be saying sorry too?"

"Why? You're the one who crashed into me."

"We crashed into _each other_." He didn't seem to agree with this, opening his mouth to retort but I cut him off by standing up quickly. We'd both forgotten our predicament but I was still late to class and in no mood to argue with a pretentious asshole.

"Whatever floats your boat, shorty." I was honestly about to leave. I promise. I'd been keeping my imagination back and I was even managing to stop my temper from flaring out. But the minute he mentioned my height… he was in for a beating. Spinning, I pinned him down with my eyes. He'd stood up now, meaning we could compare our heights. And, well, it was no wonder he'd called me short. He had to be at least 6'3" whilst I was only 5'. Craning my neck to look up at him, I glared as hard as I could, not letting him towering over me deter me. It had never stopped me before and it wasn't about to stop me now.

" _What_ did you just call me?"

"Short. What're you going to do about it, _shorty_?"

"Castrate you with a spoon, maybe?"

"Will you be able to reach?" He asked, putting on a fake look of sympathy. Luckily, I had predicted this response from him and had my counter argument at the ready. I wasn't about to let this person win in an argument. You either go big or you go home.

"Hm... You might be right, what with your dick being so short..."

"I didn't know you were that desperate to-" I wanted to strangle him. In fact, I was in the process of lunging for his neck when a teacher walked into the hallway. Let's just say my form tutor wasn't impressed.

 **Hi :)**

 **I hope you all liked the first official chapter of Hearing Althea, (seeing how that other bit was more of a prologue) :) Thanks to Lissa for being my first reviewer, you're the best :D**

 **And you got to meet Ian this chapter! God they're both really hard to write :/ But also ridiculously fun, I'm not gonna lie. Once, again, sorry for the swearing, but I thought it was the only apt way to show their rash personalities and stuff.**

 **Anyways, tell me what you think about them, and I'll see you next chapter :)**

 **Bye bye :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry to interrupt your reading :) But I just wanted to say that I edited the last chapter a bit. Nothing big, you don't need to go read it again, I just made Althea not realise that it was Gray's cousin.**

"Miss Sanders! I thought I already said you're on thin ice with me." Grumbling under my breath, I looked at the classroom door, which I would've gotten to on time if not for _him_. Leaning against the lockers, I prepared myself for a long speech.

"Yes, sir." My response sounded disgruntled, at the very least.

"And, you, Mr Benedict, don't think you're going to be off the hook just because you're new." This must be Gray's cousin then. I could say I wasn't disappointed, but then again I'd been expecting him to be handsome. Practically everyone in his family was. Dragging my eyes to the floor, I went to go off to dream land. God knew that listening to Mr Chase berate the new boy wasn't on my to-do list this morning. Or any morning, for that matter. Immediately my head was bombarded with images of all the coffee I could've had, had I not been late.

And then a thought of stars followed in quick succession to that, making me smile. Completely unrelated to my previous thought, yes, but I absolutely adored them. They distracted me from the mayhem of my life and my head and everything in between. Sometimes the silence they provided put me on edge, but I could cope with it. Or, at least, that's what I was trying to persuade myself of.

"Aw, sir, are you sure?" Snapping out of my thoughts of star clusters and galaxies, I looked up sharply. Both Mr Chase and I looked startled for a minute but I recovered sooner. The smirk that I knew was more or less permanent on my lips made its appearance again. I rolled the lollipop stick between my fingers, anticipation for the show down about to go down making me practically bounce on my toes. I could see them against a Wild West background, a tumbleweed flying past beside me.

"Do you _want_ a detention on your first day, Mr Benedict?"

"God forbid." The sarcasm in his voice was palpable, making me giggle. At this, the teacher glowered, so I popped the lollipop back in my mouth. Maybe if it stayed there I wouldn't be able to screw up more.

"Don't test me young man."

"I thought it was only fair. You give _me_ tests after all." He was good, I'd give him that. But I still couldn't keep the smile off my lips at the amount of crap that was about to come down – Mr Chase didn't take well to being challenged. Least of all by a student.

" _Benedict_."

"Yes sir?"

"To the head teacher's office. _Now_." At this, I laughed at him, knowing that he'd gotten given the worse punishment out of the both of us. I'd probably just be let off with another warning. "And you Althea can join him, for being late for the 5th time this week." Groaning, I didn't bother with a response, simply shrugging my bag on more comfortably and starting the long tread there. It wasn't the first time I'd been sent there, that was for sure, but it was never pleasant.

"Sorry 'bout that."

"You should be. He would've let us off had you not riled him up."

"I was trying to save your ass, for your information." Spinning around I glared daggers at him. He'd managed to get me sent to the head's office and on top of it all he had to seem like a good guy? Bullshit.

"Trying being the key word there, right? Cause you sure as hell didn't fucking succeed."

"At least I did something, unlike you with your smug ass grin and lollipop."

"Aw, are you jealous? Do you want some too?" Placing it in front of his lips, I rolled my eyes at him. Waving it like a magic wand, I taunted him with it. But just as I was about to pull my hand back, he actually opened his mouth, biting his teeth around the stick. "Oi, give that back!" I pulled at it with all my might but he held fast, not allowing me to get my candy back. Practically about to murder him by this point, I stepped back with a growl.

"Why? This is much more fun." He was now holding it in his hand, so I lunged for it, already knowing this wasn't going to end well.

"You _do not_ mess with my candy."

"Now who's the little kid?"

"Give it back you asshole!" But then I remembered I had five more packets of them in my bag, so still glaring him down, I took my bag from my shoulder. Unzipping it quickly, I took out a bag of haribos, along with another lollipop. " _Fine_. I guess I'll just have to enjoy the rest of my candy alone."

"Woah, wait a minute, how much food do you have in there?" Giving him an odd look, I shrugged. It'd been a while since anyone asked me that, as everyone already knew about my odd habit.

"Only sweets."

"Dude, and you got upset over one?"

" _All_ of them are my babies. And you better damn appreciate that one or I will knock your teeth out." To accompany my threat, I balled my hand into a fist, waving it menacingly even though I probably wouldn't be able to hurt a fly.

"Wait wait so are you telling me you don't have school books in there? In your _school_ bag?"

"I carry them in my hands. It works out."

"You are so fucking weird." At this I scoffed, not being able to believe his nerve. We'd just met and he was already piling on the charm wasn't he? I wanted to slam him into a rubbish bin and then watch with a smile as the garbage truck merrily drove him away.

"Says you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Getting a little bit sensitive, are we _Mr Benedict_?" Despite my absolute abhorrence to his character, I had to admit that riling him up like this was fun. So as I opened my haribo bag, I felt a subconscious smile tugging at my lips, even though we were still on our way to the head's office.

"Which reminds me, I don't know your name." At this, my smile turned completely voluntary, the smirk taking over my features. This was too easy.

"Oh, do you not?" The lilting tone in my voice already called for trouble, making him narrow his eyes at me. I'd never enjoyed pissing someone off so much, I'd have to do it more often. Maybe then my outfit would match my personality.

"Yeah." He didn't seem to catch up with my words yet, motioning at me to continue. "You gonna tell me, or…?"

"Nah."

"What do you mean no?" He crossed his arms across his chest, so I copied him, taunting him simply with my actions. When he saw, he let his arms fall loosely to his sides, his glare in my direction intensifying.

"I mean this is _much_ more fun. Wouldn't you agree?" I asked, echoing his words from earlier. By the anger flashing in his eyes, I knew he'd been able to tell.

"Look here you little-" Cutting himself off, he seemed to berate himself on something, but I was too amused with the situation to really care. Putting three haribos in my mouth, I continued to make him lose his head.

"Little what?"

"I really shouldn't swear at girls, my mum would kill me." At this, some of the light in my eyes dissipated, although why I wanted him to fight with me was anyone's guess. He annoyed me, was an idiot who couldn't get off his high horse for the world, and got kicks off of calling girls weird. I didn't want to hold a conversation with him. But for some reason, I was having fun fighting with him.

"Well that's a stupid rule. Especially considering the possibilities. I mean think about it, it gives me free reign."

"Don't you dare." I prepared my arsenal. Guns at the ready, point, blank, shoot.

"Cunt, dick, asshole, oh and the list just keeps going. Now isn't that great?" The tone I said it in reminded me of a Dr Seuss book for no reason, but it still made me giggle to myself. Snapping back into reality, I tried to forego the painful process of making my mind blank so I could continue the conversation without going off to dreamland. I always hated having to pull the reigns back on my imagination.

"You're making it really hard to be gentlemanly right now."

"I think we're way past that point since _you stole my lollipop_."

"Dude it's _one_ sweet. And you have millions in there!"

"Actually there's only 13 bags off sweets but who's counting?" I liked it a lot less now that he was the one making the taunts at me, but I held my ground, just like I always did. I wasn't about to let this asshole win simply because he liked pointing out my odd eating habits. It wasn't like no one had ever done it before – I was used to it.

"God, I just had to get landed with the crazy chic on the first day." His comment made my blood boil, and suddenly I was getting just a riled up as he'd been getting two minutes ago. Neither of us had the upper hand in the situation anymore. Stopping in the middle of the corridor, we glared each other down.

" _What_ did you just call me?"

"Screw being gentlemanly." He whispered this under his breath, making me smirk. No matter how angry I was, I was still glad that he'd at least be getting angry too. There is nothing I hated more than people who stood on morally high ground. "I called you crazy, insane, bonkers in the head. And you know why? Because you fucking are!"

"Oh yeah? Well you're a pretentious asshole who refuses to apologise like the cunt he is!"

"At least _I_ don't start throwing tantrums over some candy!"

"At least I know how to get off my high horse."

"I'm not the one with an obsession here!"

"What, did you run out of insults so you're having to loop back to the beginning?"

"Oh I can think of plenty of insults. How about cynical, clumsy, _short_?" My hands twitched at his last comment, wanting to wrap themselves around his neck. But before I could do anything about the urge, we noticed exactly where we were standing. And the audience we had. In front of the head's office, Gray stood, looking at us with an unamused scowl.

 **Hi :)**

 **More arguing! I swear if I had to be either of them I'd give myself a headache xD**

 **Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers, you guys made my day :) Have some lollipops, courtesy of Althea :)**

 **Bye bye ^.^**


	4. Chapter 4

"You two about done now?" I knew it was a rhetorical question, but I wanted to piss him off, so I nodded solemnly. It was like a party, being able to anger two Benedicts at once. Gray studiously ignored me, making me pout. He knew I didn't like being ignored. Although, then again, that was probably why he did it in the first place. "Where the hell have you been Ian? We were supposed to meet here twenty minutes ago."

"Maybe I just didn't feel like waiting."

" _Ian._ " Gray seemed to be having his patience wearing thin, so Ian rolled his eyes. Huffing out a breath, he went to actually answer his cousin's questions. I felt a smile tugging at my lips at their comfrontation, it being amusing to watch a fight instead of being actively involved in one, for once.

"You were taking too long so I decided to try to find my classroom on my own." At this, Gray's eyes flickered momentarily to me, as if judging why I was next to his cousin. I glared back at him, liking how he scoffed at me afterwards. It was fun to be able to know exactly what to do to push every single one of his buttons. It was one of the things I especially prided myself on. Their conversation had given me time to cool down, but that didn't mean I wasn't still in the mood to argue.

"Aha, and how well is that going for you?" His eyes then pointed meaningfully at me, as if I was enough indication that things had gone badly. Being around this many people who annoyed the hell out of me was probably not healthy.

"It was actually going pretty ok until I crashed into _her_." He spat it like it was poison, making me turn to glare daggers at him again.

" _Actually_ , Mr Know-it-all, you happened to be going in the exact opposite direction to our classroom, so screw you."

"I see you've, um, met Althea." Gray looked awkward about that introduction and, if I was being honest, I couldn't blame him. But I'd never felt awkward in my life so I couldn't really relate. I was surrounded by two people who probably despised me by this point due to my…. Explosive personality. It had the potential to be an incredibly suffocating situation, but instead I was dealing out glares like lollipops. Well, that wasn't really a good analogy for it, considering.

"Althea!"

"What! Jesus, you don't need to shout in my ear, asshole."

"Well sorry if you being non-responsive for a few minutes scared us a little." Not in the mood to explain to Ian about my tendencies to daydream, I diverted the question back to the earlier conversation.

"Yeah, whatever. What were you asking me?"

"Oh, nothing, we were just sharing our experiences when dealing with you."

"Ha ha, you're both _so_ funny. You know, you should become comedians."

"Aw, thanks babe, I knew you'd end up falling for my charm eventually." His comment was punctuated with a smirk. I almost growled at him again, but I was afraid of sounding like a wolf, after all the disgruntled animal noises I'd made around him. Maybe neighing would be a good option next time. At that thought, I giggled, but judging by the strange looks Gray and Ian were shooting me, I would have to reign in the crazy.

"Sorry," I drawled. "It's just that the thought of _you_ being able to charm anyone is kind of funny." Nice save. I mentally high fived myself, but after the disaster of laughing at my own joke, I decided to refrain from doing it in person. I didn't know how I'd be able to explain that one.

"Althea! In my office, now!" Looking at the office door, I felt my face scrunching up, the distaste obviously apparent on my features.

"I hope you guys are able to have fun without me. Later." Mock saluting them, I marched into the office, determination to not get a detention permeating my steps.

Ian's POV

"I'm sorry about her being the first person you've met in this school." Gray kept talking about something or other, but all I kept seeing was her. I knew it was dumb, to the point of me possibly needing medical attention, but I thought she was hot.

"Nah, it's cool." _She_ was cool. I called her insane and she made my blood boil, but her perfect lips pulling up into that sexy smirk wouldn't get out of my head. Rubbing my forehead, I pretended I was having a headache. Which, if she was a disease, she would be. Short and really up in your face but something that you got used to eventually.

"She really pisses me off sometimes." Not willing to admit that I'd actually enjoyed riling her up and standing nose to nose with her, I shrugged.

The conversation was quick to die down after that, so I asked him about the newest rugby match on television. I knew he didn't follow it much, but it would get his mind off the beautiful girl with the explosive personality. Or maybe, I was simply trying to distract myself, not him. Half way through our talk, we heard shouting from inside the office, and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Does she never get tired?" He asked, exasperation apparent in his features.

"Is she normally like this?" Remembering I still had her lollipop in my hands, I chucked it at the nearest bin, getting it in. I was honestly curious about what he would answer, but, unwilling to show this, focused on the shot.

"Loud? Yeah."

"No, I meant murderous." At this, he gave out a bark of laughter, which I responded to by pulling up the corners of my lips. I didn't like the crude joke about her, for some reason it made me uncomfortable, but I carried it through.

"Sometimes. She's the type to do whatever she wants. She doesn't like us, so she'll damn well tell us. Not like this with Pet though." The phrase 'whatever she wants', struck a chord with me. Flashes of me, acting like the most normal human being in existence, popped into my mind. And, not for the first time, I wished I could be like that. Officially there was nothing holding me back, and yet mentally _everything_ was.

"So she's nuts." More laughs met my words, but the remark left a sinking feeling in my chest and a bitter taste in my mouth. Why did I hate speaking about her like this so much? I spoke about girls in this way all the time, it was either 'she's insane' or 'she's hot'. They were both easy phrases to hide my true feelings behind. But with Althea, I felt like she deserved more than my offhanded words.

"Basically." Once again, conversation stopped, and this time I was glad. Not bothering to start it up with a different conversation starter like I did before, I simply let it die. To entertain myself from the silence around me, I replayed our conversation. She'd really annoyed me, I wasn't going to pretend she hadn't, but for some reason there was something about her that attracted me to her.

And then, the door opened and all of my thoughts flew out the window. She stood there, bouncing on her toes, with a look of annoyance coating her features. Without even sparing us a second glance, she walked off, hips swinging and bag bouncing.

"See? Weird."

"Yeah."

 **Hi :)**

 **Ian's POV today! Tell me what you think :) It took me a while to figure out what I wanted him to be like, and hopefully you guys like how he turned out :D**

 **Sorry that updates aren't exactly regular yet with this story, but I'm juggling it with Fixing Petal and just can't decide on a schedule that works xD But I promise I'll figure something out soon :)**

 **Anyways, thanks to all you lovely people who reviewed, I loved reading what you thought about last chapter =^.^= Virtual cookies and hugs for all of you!**

 **Bye bye :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Althea's POV

Going into the girl's toilets, I made my way towards the large mirrors. They were covered in lip stick stains that had formed words once upon a time. They'd all been scrubbed furiously by the janitor, but fragments of words remained. 'Love' stood the grandest, taking up almost half the mirror. 'Bitch' came in second, and it had other smudged words around it, so I could guess it was directed to someone. A heart was drawn in a corner, the people's names who'd once been written inside having disappeared long ago. Just like their relationship probably had. Some words glowed bright with emotion, but most didn't. It wasn't that odd. I'd found that people normally didn't think much about what they wrote or said or did.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, I stared at myself in the mirror. Hazel eyes glared back at me, an impassive look plastered over my features. My pixy hair stood up at awkward angles, but I ignored it. It wasn't like anyone actually looked at me long enough to see that my hair was unruly. I leaned down, pulling my high socks up, and knowing I probably looked like a freak. But this is what I liked wearing and I wasn't about to let judge-y teenagers lead my life.

Standing on my tip toes, I saw myself grow a few inches. Then I pressed my hair down, and forced my scowl to relax into a natural smile. I actually looked normal. Hating it, I brought my hands up, ruffling my hair angrily. I kicked the sink for good measure, despising the face that stared back in the mirror at me.

Without looking back at my reflection, I walked away from the girls' toilets and the forgotten words written there.

"Althea! Glad you could join us." My English teacher's sarcasm was palpable, but I chose to ignore it. Passing him the slip the head teacher gave me, I walked to the back of the classroom. He shot me a disapproving look, and I had to restrain myself from putting my feet up on the table, simply to spite him. It wouldn't do me any good to get two detentions in one day. Dad would already be displeased with me as it was.

Not wanting to pay attention to the class I would be failing this year no matter what, I let my mind wander. It wasn't that difficult – normally, anything could set me off. Staring down at the desk, stories started appearing in front of my eyes. The cuts on it became railway tracks, with a princess strapped to them. She shouted for help and the prince swooped down to save her at the last moment.

The skull and crossbones drawn in black ink, became those on a cartoonish poison bottle. A woman looked at it sadly before swallowing it down, preferring death to whatever awaited her in the real world.

Before I could be plunged into yet another daydream, the door opened loudly, banging against the wall. Looking up startled, I found Ian there, looking at us all smugly. Once again, the superhero, rushing in to save the poor people who weren't good enough to save themselves.

"Hi sir. Mr Kime told me to come over here."

"Oh! Are you the new student?" This time no sarcasm noticeable in his tone, he introduced Ian to the class, smiling the whole time. Despite having gotten over my inability to get good grades in English a long time ago, our teacher always threw it in my face. And, even though it was malicious, I hoped that Ian would also be rubbish at this subject, simply to watch the smile drop straight off Mr Mason's face. "Do you want to introduce yourself to the class?"

"Sure. My name's Ian. I like basketball and I come from New York." He then shrugged, as if there wasn't anything else to say about himself. Smiling charismatically at the class, he went to sit down, at the very least three enamoured girls in his wake. Obviously not knowing where to sit, his eyes scanned the class quickly. And, before I could make the seat beside me look less apparent, his eyes zeroed in on it.

His eyes flickered over to me, sitting in front of the empty seat, with a glum look on my face. A smirk pulled up the corners of his lips. He'd decided, and I wasn't going to like his decision. In three strides, he was beside me, and asking the dreaded question.

"Is this seat taken?" The asshole already knew the answer, if his shining eyes were anything to go by. He looked like an excited kid at Christmas, except he wasn't being offered presents, but rather a front row seat to annoying me.

"No." My tone sounded disgruntled, but I was well beyond being polite to him. Thinking about it, I don't think I'd ever been at the point where I _was_ courteous. All for the better, I supposed, the less people I had to speak to, the better.

"I thought it might be reserved for your imaginary friends or your lollipops."

"Listen here you-"

"Miss Sanders, I hope I'm not interrupting your conversation with my lesson" Loosening my fists, which had curled up involuntarily, I slumped back into my seat. Glaring daggers at the desk, I tried to force it to give me stories to distract my mind, but I was too on edge for anything to come out. All I saw were scratches on an old desk. There wasn't anything there to see in the first place. Like there never was. It was just loud thoughts against white noise.

"Psst, Ally?"

"Don't call me that." Came my response, not having any patience for him. He knew how much it would aggravate me to have him sat right behind me, and he had to go and fucking do it. I wanted to kill him with a spork, so it would me long and painful. Not to mention that my surroundings still refused to give me a much needed distraction, everything remaining stubbornly silent for the first time in my life. Ironically enough, it was driving me insane.

"Aw, why not, Ally? Do you prefer Shorty?" I practically growled at him, the noise building up in my throat. I'd never wanted someone as dead as I did him.

"I want you dead."

"At least you want me, huh?"

"Shut up!" It was then that I realised my voice had gone up in volume, and the whole class was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Althea, is there a problem?"

"Yes, actually." Not able to keep the comment to myself, I twisted in my chair to glare daggers at the boy there, who just looked at me with an innocent look on his face. My hands twitched again with the urge to strangle him then and there. Not wanting to go to prison, I gripped the back of the chair instead, hoping to any and all gods up there that I'd be able to keep my anger in check, at least until this class ended.

"Well sort it out once you leave my classroom." Sighing, I shook my head, turning back to the board. Lying my head against the desk, I felt myself deflating. I didn't feel like dealing with so many assholes in one hour. And my daydreams still refused to enter my head, almost as if someone was keeping them away. Everything in me begged me to simply got up and leave. But for some reason my feet kept themselves planted on the floor.

It had nothing to do with Ian, or the possibility of riling him up again, I promised myself. But I couldn't help but feel like that was the only thing keeping me here.

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry I haven't updated this in so long, but I'm back :) I promise to get you guys at least a chapter a week from now on. Also, thanks a bunch to all the people who reviewed, you guys made my day :) You're all so patient with me, I swear you're too nice.**

 **But yeah, so tell me what you thought :) This story will be quite slow, just because Ian and Althea won't stop hating each other anytime soon, although their fights will soon turn a lot more playful instead of hate-fueled, I promise :D**

 **(A/N to those of you reading Fixing Petal: I know we reached the target but I need a bit longer to write up the chapter, you guys were insanely fast at reaching the goal, and I just haven't had time. But thanks so much to all of those who reviewed, it'll be coming on asap - hopefully tomorrow?)**

 **Bye bye :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Ian's POV

Seeing Althea's shoulders, still tensed up, and her hands, still in balled up fists, made me smirk. I could leave her be, but then I remembered the sexy look she got on her face whenever I annoyed her. Without thinking much of it, I kicked the back of her chair.

Her hands seemed to tighten even further. Her knuckles appeared white even from here. This was dumb, I was sure, and definitely not the way to go about making her like me, but she detested me already anyway. So, laughing to myself, I kicked her chair once more. This was the dumb jock way people expected me to act, so I carried it through. I supposed seeing Althea get angry at me was just a bonus.

"Can you stop?" The angry whisper reached my ears, as she looked back at me. Pure anger was visible in her eyes, and I was reminded of how right I'd been when I'd called her murderous. And yet, I couldn't help but think, that she still looked like the most beautiful girl I'd ever met. Shaking that thought away, I centred my inner asshole. I didn't think of girls as "beautiful" or "pretty". No, they were "hot chicks". And if I didn't think that way, one of these days the words would end up escaping my mouth and it would all be game over.

"Why?" A smirk slipped onto my features, and I knew I'd achieved it – becoming the person society thought I should be. With my athletic frame and interest in sports, according to them I could be nothing but the stereotypical jock. It was just a shame that it was the exact opposite of who I truly was. Hoping she didn't see the melancholy in my eyes, I pushed my shoulders back, trying to convey confidence.

"Cause you're annoying and I hate you." A laugh almost escaped at her childish comment, but I held it back.

"Well you know what they say about love and hate…" Instead, I responded with a womanising comment that sent my heart lurching in my chest. For some reason, treating Althea like this always felt overly wrong. Like she was so pure that she deserved to be talked to by _me_ , rather than the asshole I created in my mind. But that was stupid, because Althea was anything but pure. She was bitchy, and annoying, and had a weird obsession with candy. Yet, strangely enough, she was the most honest person I'd ever met – and if she was honest, why shouldn't I be? Banishing that thought as quickly as I could, I tried to forget all about it. I couldn't make exceptions, especially not for some girl I'd only met a couple hours ago. For all I knew, she could be pretending too, but just hid it better than the rest of us did.

"You're such a perverted asshole." With that, she turned around, but I was enjoying teasing her too much to just let it go. Placing both my feet on the back of her chair, I started pushing it forward. She barely weighed anything, and soon she was against the table. "Stop it!" I had to admit, that despite the asshole comments making me feel disgusting, this was easy. Talking and arguing with her was smooth, easy sailing. It felt like, even though I still had my mask on, I was talking around it for once.

"Aw, but it's so much fun." I pretend pouted at her, but she just glared. She'd only semi turned this time, as the bottom half of her body was being trapped between a chair and a desk, but it was enough. The view of her beautiful hazel eyes made annoying her all worth it. They looked like a sun was setting in a faraway forest that no one ever dared disturb. Embarrassed that I'd thought such a horribly girly thing, I forced myself to stop making eye contact with her. She was driving me insane. I hadn't wanted to break my cover ever before, and yet she was here destroying the perfectly made mask that had been years in the making. But I never wanted it to stop.

"Yeah but I can't fucking breathe." At this, I loosened my hold on her, not wanting her to get hurt. What was wrong with me today? Normally I'd feel bad about hurting people but I'd never show it. To be able to be where I was now, I couldn't let my emotions show. So why was I letting her words get to me?

"That better?"

" _Definitely_." The sarcasm in her voice was so prominent that I snorted out a laugh, but was quick to cover it. I couldn't let her see that I actually found her funny and cool to be around. That wasn't the Ian that everyone else knew me as.

"So glad to hear it, sweetheart." Making sure to pile on the sarcasm on my end too, I managed to make her all the angrier. She was close to hissing at me, I could feel it.

"Althea and Ian! Detention!" Without turning in the teacher's direction, she _did_ hiss at me. She looked like she would strangle me in her sleep. So, wanting to pass this lesson without further incident, I avoided eye contact by staring down at the desk. Years of scratches met my eyes, but I ignored all of them.

This was stupid, why was I even letting a girl get to me this much? So she had an hourglass figure and long legs that seemed to stretch on forever. But that didn't mean I needed to revert back to year five, when the only way to get a girl's attention was to annoy the hell out of her. Letting my head fall into my hands, I sighed. I was making such a mess out of things, and I'd only met one person at this bloody school.

The teacher called on me a couple of times, my disinterest not being a secret – but I knew the answers so he had to hide his judgemental look. However, Althea had laid her head on the desk, and he was simply ignoring her, as if he didn't care whether she failed his class or not. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but before I could make up my mind, the bell was ringing.

Everyone stood up, as I blearily looked around. But instead of getting up myself, my mind went completely blank. I normally didn't day dream, but it was as if my mind had been plunged into a sinkhole. The more I struggled the further I sank. Images floated around, whizzing past at impossible speeds. One minute they were there, and then I blinked and they'd disappeared.

Stars glowed bright, forming patterns and constellations against my eyelids. Then came a telescope. Then… Coffee, for some reason. Then a woman strapped to some train tracks. Scissors cutting rope, then cutting fabric, beautiful dresses being constructed just for me to see. More stars. Men as tall as mountains, fighting over who could keep the Pleiades – even though I didn't even know I knew that constellation's name.

It was like someone else was controlling my head, driving me in random directions and telling me information I'd previously known not of. This thought was enough to make me snap out of it, slamming my shields shut. I made them stronger than I'd ever made anything before.

And, suddenly, I was back in the classroom. No more stars, nor giants, nor coffee. It all disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place. But it must've done, at least that's what the time told me. 10 minutes had passed, and I was now alone, late to my next lesson.

Cursing, I ran, any thoughts of stars and the beautiful spitfire girl being left behind.

 **Hi :)**

 **Guys you're all amazing! I loved all of your reviews, and I'm glad to see you're liking the story so far :) Anyway, it was just a bit of character development this chapter, but I hope you guys are liking Ian (even though he's a bit of an asshole xD)**

 **Bye bye x**


	7. Chapter 7

Ian's POV:

I arrived at lunch when everyone had already sat down in their usual groups, and had to bite my tongue to stop from swearing. I'd had a plan to somehow manoeuvre my way into the jock table and hope for the best, but there seemed to be no seats there. Sighing, I decided to simply man up and go. At this rate, I wouldn't make a single friend – I couldn't allow that to happen.

However, luck seemed to be on my side, because as soon as I started walking towards the centre of the lunch hall, two girls came up to me. Both blonds, with bright red lipstick and gum in their mouths that they were chewing loudly. The colour of the lipstick reminded me of Althea, and I had to stop myself from wishing her to be the one approaching me.

"Hi! You're the new kid right?"

"Yup, name's Ian. And yours, pretty ladies?" As always, the comment didn't settle well in my throat, and I had to force it out through a clenched jaw. Luckily neither of them noticed, simply giggling. It made me wonder if they were pretending too, simply acting this way because it was how society deemed blond girls with pretty faces should act. The thought made me sick. It would be so stupid, if all of us were pretending for each other's sake, but none of us ended up truly doing what we wanted to do.

"Well I'm Jenifer, and this is Leah. Nice to meet you." They seemed nice enough, so I shook both their hands, and then followed them once they offered me a seat at their table. It was right next to the jock table, so at least I'd be close enough.

"So, what is there to do for fun in Wrickenridge?" A voice in the back of my mind told me this question was pointless, because I already knew the ins and outs of this town thanks to my cousins. But I was running out of conversation topics, and this one always seemed to work like a charm. About five girls opened their mouths to answer, but were cut off by someone behind me.

"Oh look, you already got yourself a fanclub Ian?" Turning around quickly at the sound of that familiar voice, I found myself staring straight at Althea, who had her hip cocked to the side and an eyebrow raised, a smug expression on her features.

"Do you really have nothing better to do than make fun of my choice of friends?"

"Do _you_ really have nothing better to do than spend time with these air head bimbos?" At her comment I expected to hear huffs of indignation from behind me – perhaps for someone to speak up in defence of themselves. Instead there was just a dead silence, making her words echo around our heads. And the reverberated within me, because she was right. I wasn't enjoying spending time with these girls who always said the same things in the same tone of voice. Althea was exciting, refreshing, but I couldn't spend time with her.

"Just get out." I sighed, rubbing my forehead tiredly. I didn't like how close she'd hit to home. However, she didn't let my tone deter her, simply turning to walk away. Just before she did though, she looked back at me, giving me a perfect view of her sparkling eyes.

"We both know that's not what you want to say." And with that and a wink, she walked away, leaving a table of flabbergasted teenagers that were staring at me in shock.

"Oh my god, how could you talk to her like that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion, not understand why they looked so absolutely shocked. I understood that around here Althea wasn't the most popular person, but I wouldn't expect that talking to her would be that weird.

"She's so scary!" The girl who said this was the one I recognised as Leah, who was watching me with big puppy dog eyes. Her long eyelashes batted a couple of times, accentuating how blue they were. But as I looked on at the display of obvious flirting, I couldn't help but think that I liked a different pair of eyes a lot better. Ones that weren't so bright and blue, but rather hazel, with hints of all the colours swimming within.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." I had to stop myself from shivering as I put an arm around her shoulders. Everything about this screamed wrong, yet I didn't move, only allowing myself a couple seconds to recover. 1 I was Ian. 2 I was strong. 3 This was the only way to act. 4 I'd find happiness this way. And when I opened my eyes I was back to normal, a smirk on my lips and a flirtatious glint in my eyes. I simply hoped that no one had seen the moment of weakness.

Leah's POV

As Ian put his hand around me, smirking confidently in that way that had made me fall in love already, I shot a look at all the girls on the table. They knew what that meant.

 _He's mine_. I commanded in their minds, and all they could do was slowly nod, taking in the scene before them with wide eyes. I knew he liked me, I could see it. Now all I needed to do was get rid of that pesky Althea and I'd have him.

"So, you asked what there is to do in Wrikenridge?" I asked, trying to keep his attention on me. Although it seemed to have the opposite effect, as he coughed awkwardly and removed his arm from around me. Maybe my competition was stronger than I thought.

"Yeah, any fun ideas?" With this he shot everyone on the table a wink, but they all simply glanced away, my warning in their mind still ringing clear. I'd have to make sure they remembered that. I had my eye on him, and no one said no to me.

"Well we could always go out to coffee, there's a nice little shop just near here!" Exclaiming this as enthusiastically as I could, I latched onto his arm, explaining all about how much fun we could have. I didn't miss his grimace at my action though, and I had to hide my own scowl in response. He would be mine, even if he didn't want to yet.

He _would_ want me. He just didn't know it yet.

"Well anyway I'm going to start going to lesson, but it was lovely meeting you Ian." I said this with a cheery grin on my face, the one that had men falling over to talk to me. But it had no effect on Ian, making me growl under my breath angrily. Signalling to my girls to go, I marched out of the lunch hall, confidence in my stride. No one had ever said no to me before. He would pay for this. And he'd end up grovelling in the dirt for my attention. "Right girls, we need a plan of action."

"Leah," spoke up Jenny with a small voice. "Maybe it'd be a good idea to just keep him as our friend. He seemed really comfortable until you started flirting." I was already shaking my head at her idea. With a tsk of the tongue I walked up to her, heels clicking against the floor.

"He started getting uncomfortable when that crazy chic came up to us. Don't you get it Jenny?" My voice took on a hard quality that had her swallowing hard in fear. Sizing up to my full height, which was 5'9" in heels, I glared her down. "He is _mine_."

 **Hi :)**

 **So, the plot has finally been introduced, and I hope you don't hate Leah too much xD I don't intend for her only role in the story to be 'being the bad guy', don't worry. Although she is gonna be pretty damn insane, if you couldn't tell already ;)**

 **Oh my god your reviews were absolutely great, thanks so much :) Tell me what you think of this chapter, and just how much you hate me for introducing competition for Althea ;)**

 **Bye bye :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Althea's POV

"And oh my god, he's horrible. I'm not even kidding. I think he enjoys pissing me off or something." I told this to Maisee as we made our way down the street. I'd convinced her to come with me to get coffee during our lunch break, after much pleading.

"He's ok, once you get to know him."

"We both know that's your way of saying that you don't like him either." At this, she shot me a sheepish smile, and I knew I'd caught her. What I'd learnt about Mais in this past year we'd known each other, was that she was incredibly different to me. I always spoke my mind, whilst she tidied away any mean thoughts, where they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. I was completely sure that _she_ hadn't had a screaming match with Ian the first time she met him.

With her overbearing fear of hurting others, she refused to either confirm or reject my statement, so the conversation died down quickly. I didn't mind though – silence was rare in my life so I made sure to appreciate it at every chance I had.

I'd been born third eldest in a family of 7, meaning that silence was anything but abundant in our household. We were quite a rich family, my parents impersonating the stereotypical snobby rich people: they hated noise, and wanted the house to be impeccable. Yet, despite this and their absolute abhorrence of messiness, our house always resembled a pigsty more than it did an actual house.

"Althea? We're here." Maisee had become quite used to my spacing out, so rather than shaking me and freaking out like everyone else, she simply tapped my arm lightly. Smiling at all the coffee awaiting me in the café, I marched in. Immediately being hit with the aroma of coffee, I had to stop the smile from taking over my face. I felt like a teenager in love, hormones clouding my judgement. But I wouldn't ever fall for a guy, so this was my replacement. Lots and lots of coffee.

"Oh my god it smells so good."

"How come you always say that?" She didn't understand my love for the beverage, so never fully comprehended how happy this place made me. She always had banana milk instead of anything actually caffeinated, which meant she couldn't grasp how amazing this café was at making coffee. It was so good that on occasion my eyes actually watered upon entering this place. People had described my love for this stuff (as well as candy) as odd or unhealthy, but, as I always say, it's better to be overemotional than have no feelings at all. Realising she was still waiting for an answer, I replied as we stood in the queue.

"Because it deserves to be appreciated." At this she giggled, not realising I wasn't joking.

"It doesn't have feelings, Althea." And once again I thought of the idea of not feeling at all, instead of feeling too much. How boring must the world seem to those who refused to let themselves be reigned by their emotions?

"It does in here." Tapping my head as if I was speaking words of wisdom, Maisee just laughed more. And for the first time in my life, I felt silly for giving inanimate objects feelings and loving a little too much. So I sighed in relief when we finally arrived at the till, and I was asked a question that I _did_ know the answer to.

"What would you like?"

After ordering, we made our way around the small coffee shop, finding an empty table quickly. Silence had once again fallen over us, but I minded it a little more this time. Perhaps it was that I wanted to get my mind off that horrible feeling of embarrassment, or maybe I simply wanted Maisee to forget all about it so that I could too. So I went to open my mouth, even though I didn't know the protocol for awkward situations such as this one, seeing how I'd never really felt awkward before. Yet before I could get a single word out, the door opened, and Mr Arrogant came in.

" _What_ is he doing here?" Maisee tried to shrug and fake innocence, but Gray came in after Ian, so I was completely sure that this was her doing. "Don't give me that look, why the fuck did you invite them?"

"Ever since Gray's friends made a joke about me and my, um, sexual tendencies, he hasn't wanted to hang out with them."

"What happened to bros before hoes?" I tried to joke but she shot me a glare, and I could see her trying to forget what they'd said to her. "Was it that bad?"

"They called me a… A…" She struggled with the word, but before she could spit it out and reveal the juicy bit of information, a voice spoke up from beside us.

"A slut? A dirty hoe? Hm… I don't see it." Ian stood next to our table, coffee in hand and a smile on his lips. I had to admit, I liked it a lot better than his scowl. He actually looked really hot, his hair ruffled from the wind outside and the roguish grin he now sported.

"Try not to repeat their words, yeah?" Gray came up behind him, hitting the back of his head, and sitting down next to Maisee. Which meant that the only available spot in the booth was next to me.

"I was just saying that they obviously don't have a clue about her to say those things." As he took his seat next to me, I couldn't help but be impressed that he was actually being nice. I knew that I hadn't known him enough to be able to gauge his character well, but I'd assumed that all he was good at was annoying people.

"Yeah, but they still said it."

"Who cares? It's not true." He shrugged, and this woke me out of my stupor, making me shake my head and look the other way. I'd been entranced by him, which was simply dumb. I normally only daydreamed about pleasant things. Ignoring the thought which told me that perhaps I found Ian pleasant to be around, I distracted myself by stirring my coffee. Blacks and browns melted together, helping me forget all about the handsome but disgruntling boy.

They kept talking about something, but I was no longer interested. It was one of those pointless conversations just meant to fill up the silence. No point in pretending that they didn't all feel a little awkward. I could especially see it in Maisee, who looked like someone had shoved a stick up her ass. It was obvious she was trying to get Gray's cousin to like her. The idea of impressing someone was so ridiculous.

"I saw you looking at me." This was whispered into my ear, making me jump about half a metre in the air. Screaming, I slapped at the air next to my ear, hoping to catch him. But Ian had already moved a safe distance away, looking at me with an amused smirk. "It's ok babe, no need to hide it." He winked, making me want to slap him.

"Why would I ever look at you?"

"The real question is: why _wouldn't_ you?"

"Cause you're a narcissist pig?"

"Back to the uncreative insults, Althea?"

"Run out of insults again, Ian?" I said, rolling my eyes at him. But, truth was, that I was enjoying this conversation a lot more than I should. I should be annoyed and snapping at him, but instead we were both smiling and throwing around comments as if we were an old married couple who were used to the nonsensical arguments. I liked that image too much.

What was even happening?

Leah's POV

Watching from outside the coffee shop, I saw him leaning into her ear. Scrunching up the piece of paper in my hands angrily, I growled under my breath. He was mine, why was she getting so close to him? Only I was allowed to do that. Angrily throwing the piece of paper at the wall, I stalked off, knowing that plan was ruined now.

I couldn't scare her off whilst she was so close to him, he'd notice something was off. And I needed to be the perfect little angel in his eyes. And as I walked away, I thought of the simple two lines on the paper which would have achieved what I'd been trying to.

 ** _Watch your back Althea. Stay away from Ian._**

 ** _People get hurt when they don't do as I say._**

But even though I was trying to convince myself that giving her the letter would've been the right way to go forward with my plan of making Ian fall for me, I couldn't force myself to believe it, even in my angered state. A pang in my heart caused me to close my eyes painfully, trying to banish all these awful thoughts from my mind. I'd never felt jealous but every part of my mind knew that if that feeling existed, this must surely be it.

He'd never looked at me like he did her. Which was ridiculous, because I was tall and athletic, and beautiful. What did she have? Wit? It wasn't even funny wit, it was annoying, and their arguments drove me up a wall. I wanted him to be mine, and he would be, but for the first time in my life, I felt as if I wouldn't be simply given what I wanted. I had thought a challenge would be fun. This heavy feeling in my chest, and the knot in my throat were anything but.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok so Althea and Ian are starting to hate each other a little less, and I'm loving writing their bickering :) I didn't get much feedback on the last chapter though, so I was hoping yo uguys could tell me what you think about it, I'd love to know your opinions!**

 **Bye bye xx**


	9. Chapter 9

Ian's POV

 _I sometimes wonder what it would be like to fly_. I looked around me, searching for the source of the thought that had slipped into my mind, but saw no one. I wasn't a seventh child, but I still had quite a strong power. I could borrow people's gifts. The closer I was to someone, the easier it was for me to do it, meaning it could happen accidentally. Like it was right now. _To simply take off into the sky and never return._ I glanced around me again, but I was alone. Uncle Zed was upstairs, but he was the one who I was borrowing it from, so it was unlikely to be his train of thought.

Sighing, I shut my book closed, knowing I wouldn't be able to concentrate. One of the most distracting gifts I had ever encountered was Zed's. Whenever I was around him, I always had a stream of endless chatter in the back of my mind, making focusing on anything practically impossible.

"Uncle Zed!" Shouting up the stairs, I avoided using telepathy. It gave me a headache to use my powers at the same time, as I'd painfully discovered on more than one occasion. _To get away from all of these expectations, and stupid demands. I just want to be free._ I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought. It wasn't mine, and I felt like I was intruding on the person's life.

"Yeah?"

"Shield up." He understood immediately, as we'd gone through this too many times. _Why can't they let me escape? Please-_ The thought caught off half-way, for which I was thankful. I couldn't keep listening to the remorseful dreams of that broken person.

But I couldn't simply sit here and wait either, so I left the house quickly. My book forgotten, I mulled over the words from the mysterious person. How terrible must someone's life be for them to want to run and never look back? Before I could begin to imagine all the things that could have happened to that poor person, something caught my attention.

"Althea?" She was leaning against the wall of a house, arms wrapped around her stomach, and she looked like absolutely crap. Forgetting our feud momentarily, I went up to her, checking if she was ok. Cursing that my dad wasn't closer, as I could've borrowed his healing ability, I quickly sprinted up to her, knowing I'd have to do this the old fashioned way. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Scanning her up and down, I saw a cut on her knee and a scrape on her elbow, but she seemed to be ok otherwise. Not letting myself be deluded though, I lifted her chin up, finding her eyelids drooping and her cheeks flushed. She was most certainly not ok.

"You're not, you can barely stand."

"Sure I can." With this, she tried to push away from the wall. However, she couldn't stay upright for long, tilting forward as if she was going to fall. Catching her, I had to stop myself from yelling at her for being so damn stubborn. Yet at the same time, I was smiling at her, because her resilience really was admirable.

"No you can't. What the hell's wrong?" Done with playing nice, I picked her up bridal style, intending to take her back to my house. I didn't know if she was ok, and I didn't want to risk it when she couldn't even stand upright.

"Nothing. I just get dizzy spells sometimes."

"What about your knee?"

"I fell." Relieved that she was finally telling me the truth, I marched into the house. I didn't know what I planned to do in here to help her, but at least we were inside and away from the sun. Maybe it was heat stroke? I was getting too worked up about this, I knew, but something was cutting off the logic in my head. All that seemed to go around in circles was that she was hurt. And that, for some reason, was important to me. "Look, I'm ok. I just need some sugar." Not needing to be told twice, I went straight to the kitchen, grabbing her a Pepsi.

Althea's POV

Sitting up from where he'd laid me down on the couch, I looked around curiously. I'd already started to feel better, now he'd gotten me out of the sun, so I could focus more on my surroundings. Picture frames of Gray and his brothers hung on every available surface, making me cringe. It was like I was surrounded my twenty of them. So, knowing that I didn't want to look around the living room, I lay back down, letting myself be immersed in my mind.

Just before I'd fainted, I'd been thinking about flying. I liked that thought, the idea of going and never coming back. I wasn't particularly uncomfortable with my life right now, but that was the problem. I was born to go on adventures. To sword fight with a pirate in the middle of the Pacific or to make my way through high tree tops in the Amazon. I wanted to escape society, because they were trapping me in a cage of notions and philosophies which didn't even matter.

'Don't speak up', 'be strong', 'be normal', 'follow the rules'. And yet, at the same time, they were telling me to be myself. But every time I did this, I was shunned and people acted as if I was insane. I just wanted to be free to do as I pleased, without all of the expectations my parents and my teachers and everyone kept throwing on me. I knew that I'd gone down this train of thought way too many times already, but I couldn't keep thinking about it.

Not to mention my parents, who'd been piling on the pressure to take them to further success. It'd been the reason why I'd run out into the street in the first place. But I didn't want to dwell on this thought. Flying was beautiful and majestic. Complaining about my parents just showed how weak I was.

"Right, here you go." A cold Pepsi was placed in front of me, banishing all the toxic thoughts that had been poisoning my mind.

"Thanks."

"Does this happen often?" He looked worried, so I tried to dissipate the concern with sarcasm. It always made people annoyed when I used it, but it kept their mind off the issue, hence, I couldn't care less what they thought of me.

"You know, my mum once told me not to talk to strangers." He rolled his eyes at my obvious attempt at stalling.

"Just answer the question."

"Why?" He was getting annoyed now, I could see it in his eyes. I grinned in anticipation, unable to hide my joy at pissing him off.

"Because I want to help." He practically growled this at me, making me smile all the wider. The smirk was probably taking over my features at this point.

"Oh, whatever shall I do without my prince in shining armour?"

"Are you really going to be this difficult?"

"I dunno, am I?"

"Ok, that's it, get out." But he was smiling too. I got off the couch and wobbled a little, having to use his arm as support, but we both managed to laugh it off. The walk to the door was kept in comfortable silence, and by the time I got there, I was able to stand straight.

"Bye bye Ian. And thanks for the Pepsi." I patted his head to annoy him – which it did – and left, skipping my way down the street. I was still a little woozy, but I had to admit, our conversation had made my mind forget all about flying away.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok so now you guys know what Ian's gift is :D Tell me what you think! I made him really powerful on purpose while Althea is really not for a reason you shall discover later :) More secrets, gosh I don't know how you guys deal with me xD I'll give you a hint, it has to do with Leah ;)**

 **I loved all of your reviews to the last chapter, they really made my day 10 x better :) Drop me a review telling me what you thought of this chapter, I'd really appreciate it :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	10. Chapter 10

"Bye." I whispered, knowing she'd never hear. She was skipping down the street, hips swaying, and I felt my eyes drift down to her ass. But I stopped them. Even though I knew that Althea was the hottest girl I'd ever met, I didn't want to just see her as hot. I might act like a stereotypical jock, but I refused to label girls like that. Despite the fact that I _did_ talk about them in that way.

I had finally woken from my stupor of seeing her hurt, and I was able to think clearly about what I had done. I had freaked the hell out. The part of me that had been telling me how to act like a normal person had simply been shut off. Since I'd become a teenager and overly self-conscious I hadn't once stopped acting like society required me to. But when Althea came into the picture…

God what was happening to me? I sounded like a girl.

I pulled my hands through my hair, tugging at the strands angrily. But I couldn't stop my mind from replaying her playful smirk as she asked 'I dunno, am I?' with that teasing tone she always used. She was infuriating and hot and driving my mind fucking insane. Knowing I had to get away from all of this, I quickly dialled up Gray. I didn't know what he was doing, but I didn't care. I needed to go out and forget all about the siren that was luring me in.

"Hi."

"Hey, Gray, it's me, Ian."

"Oh, hey Ian. What's up?"

"Nothing much, just wondering if you wanna hang out?"

"Sorry, I'm on a date with-" Before he could finish his sentence, the phone must've been taken off from him, because a different voice replaced his.

"He'll be over in a couple of minutes." The voice definitely belonged to Miss Selfless herself, Maisee. I was desperate to get away from my own mind, but I couldn't just stop them from going on a date. No matter how much I wanted to be a selfish jackass, I couldn't do it.

"Nah, don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Nope." And with that I hung up, glad I'd managed to keep their date going. After all the hardship those two had had to go through to get together, they deserved all the time alone they got. Which meant I was once again alone with my thoughts.

Sitting on the steps leading up to the porch my mind drifted in and out of focus, much like it did in the classroom a few days ago. I was convinced there was a strong mind near me which was causing all of the daydreams. But no one really believed me. They all just said that I must be borrowing Zed's gift again. That isn't what his gift felt like though.

His power didn't make everything go blank. His power wasn't strong enough to knock the breath out of me and make me forget my surroundings. This person, whoever they were, was strong enough to make their thoughts the only thing that mattered. And I couldn't help but think that I wanted to meet them, to see who the person who dreamed about bitter coffee and bright stars was.

"Ian, you alright?" Seeing Uncle Zed behind me, squinting in the sun, I decided to act as normal as I could. Luckily, he wasn't someone from school, or else 'normal' would've meant being an asshole to everyone in a five metre radius. I wasn't in the mood to be a jock. Although, to be honest, I was never in the mood to be a jock. But it wasn't about what I wanted, it's about what I needed to do.

"Yeah. You up for a basketball game on Tv?" He smiled, and I knew I'd said exactly what I needed to make him forget all about my mournful gaze. I hadn't been this upset about my situation in a while. I needed to snap out of it.

"When am I not?" With that, he slung an arm around my shoulders, practically dragging me inside. I kept up some small talk about one thing or another, keeping him distracted. Then, the Tv was on, and he was focused on the game, leaving me finally to my own devices. The second I felt his eyes leave me, I slumped in the couch, my confident stance dropping. I wasn't even interested in the game, I just wanted to stop feeling judged, and I knew this would be the best way to get him off my case.

Now the only thing was, figuring out the best way to get _everyone_ off my case. To stop society from looking at me, caging me in with all the expectations and judgemental ideas. Once again I was reminded of the person who just wanted to fly. And I wondered if, perhaps, you don't need to be hurt by life to want to run away. If you don't need to go through hell every day to want to escape. Maybe they're just an ordinary person like me. Someone who was being trapped, but couldn't speak up because nothing was really _wrong_. Except, everything is.

Maybe, the only thing you need to want to fly, is to be alive.

Althea's POV

I sashayed around the street, not caring how odd I looked. I turned a couple of heads, but I didn't pay them any heed. My headphones blasted out music as I moved my hips to the rhythm, even humming a few lyrics. The song was about a nasty break up, so whilst I listened to it, I pictured it in my mind. A tall imposing man, being shunned into a corner by a woman with a tight smile and gleaming eyes. I was actually feeling pity for my poor, imaginary man, when a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Hi." Taking out one of my earphones, I gave Ian an impassive raise of my eyebrows, before putting it back in. As I started walking towards school again, he ran to catch up with me. "Hey, I was talking to you." This time, he was the one who ripped out my headphones, giving me an angry look. I just smiled.

"Yes?" To be fairly honest, I wasn't in the mood to piss someone off today, and I wasn't about to let an imaginary feud between us stop me from having my morning daydream. So, trying to keep away from any arguments, I kept my tone quiet and clipped.

"We could go together. We're walking the same way."

"Can't I have a single peaceful morning?" He rolled his eyes at me, but didn't give me room to refuse. As I started walking again, he kept his pace even with mine. I didn't really know what to say, so the minute he looked away, my headphones went back in. This time, a sappy love song was playing, making me angry for some reason. I took my phone out of my pocket, skipping the track with a huff.

"Hey, shorty, what you listening to?" Without even sparing him a second glance, I already had my response at the ready.

"A song about strangling an annoying boy." At this he whistled, apparently impressed by my quick reply. But I wasn't in the mood to have a battle of wits with him. I was too tired.

"How weird, I personally wouldn't write something so awful."

"Really? I happen to know the perfect inspiration."

"Do you, now? Do I know him?" It was obvious he knew I was talking about him, but he kept the joke going, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Definitely. Mirrors break when he walks past them, you might recognise him from that."

"See, shorty, I was starting to think you were talking about me, but with that last description, it can't be."

"Of course you'd think it's about you, you narcissistic asshole."

"Somehow, we always keep coming back to this." I laughed, taking out my earphones and slipping them into my pocket. Without me even realising, he'd pulled me out of my anti-social bubble, and now I was all ready to fight.

"That's because it's true."

"I still think the song's about me."

"You know what? I'm starting to think so too."

"Why is that?"

"Because the last line was: he's a pig, but I still like talking to him." He smiled at my comment, and it took me a minute to realise why. Too late to take my words back, I simply shrugged, knowing that embarrassment would get me nowhere. I couldn't let him see that admitting stuff like that was distressing to me. Because I was Althea, the strong girl that no one could even faze.

"Hm, if I were to hear a song about you, I think it would go: Roses are red, violets are blue, she'll give you a headache, but I want one too." I slapped his arm, already blushing, but he just laughed. I wished I could control my blush and body reactions so that I could seem as unperturbed as when I'd spoken up before. But my obvious content at his 'song' was undeniable, so I decided to just go with it. Throwing my head back, I giggled, laughing right along with him as we made our way to school.

He looked taken aback by how loud my laugh was, just like everyone else always was. But it took him slightly less to recover than most others, starting laughing once again.

"Hey Althea?"

"Yeah?" I asked, humour still on both our features.

"Why are we laughing?"

"I don't know." And with this we shared an amused grin, before dissolving once again into fits of laughter. I never had any problem with laughing for a long while whilst everyone looked weirdly at me. It was better to laugh too much than not at all. Just like it was better to feel more. And better to think more. And better for everything to be amplified. Or, maybe, that was just a lie I told myself to keep from thinking that sometimes my thoughts were so loud that they drove me insane.

A hand shaking me broke me out of my stupor, and I found Ian looking at me curiously. I didn't want to have to explain my daydreams to him, but it seemed inevitable. If I didn't tell him now, he'd keep pestering me until I did. I'd only known him for three days, but I already knew that his stubborn streak could rival mine.

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Do you do that a lot?" I went to reply, but he stopped me. "And a sarcastic response won't be taken as an answer." Giggling at his annoyed look, I went to actually tell him the truth. He'd been able to predict me too well for my comfort, but that would be another thought for another day.

"I daydream a lot."

"What, you just faze out?"

"Something like that. It's just that sometimes my mind is a little too loud, you know? And it's hard to ignore. Like if someone shouted in your ear. It'd be practically impossible to keep up a conversation." I hadn't wanted to talk so long about it, but I hadn't talked about my daydreams to anyone in a long time. It felt nice to get it off my chest. And at the same time I felt absolutely insane. A thought like 'my mind is too loud' seems good and poetic in your head, but hearing it out loud made me realise just how crazy it actually sounded.

"I get that." And, for some reason, it felt like he really did. Like he wasn't simply saying that because it was the right thing to say, or because society obliged him to do so, but because he truly understood. But that was just stupid.

No one ever understood.

I didn't have much time to dwell on this thought though, as we were suddenly interrupted by a blonde girl who seemed way too cheery for it to be so early in the morning.

"Hi Ian!" She greeted, threading her arms with his. I glanced down at the action, raising an eyebrow at him. He paid no heed to what I was silently asking, simply removing her arm from his.

"Hi Leah. This is Althea, I think you two have met before?"

"Haven't had the pleasure." She said, a sugar coated smile on her face. It made me sick, how fake she was. All you needed was to have eyes to see it.

"I don't think pleasure's the right word for it, but sure." A smirk tugged up my lips at the comment, it being much more amusing to me than to Ian's fangirl. I shook her hand nonetheless, grasping it firmly. But she'd recovered finally, digging her nails into my skin with an angry glower.

"Ally! Sorry about that Leah, sometimes I think we need to keep her tied down with a leash."

"Pfft. Just because I argue? Have you forgotten what you do 24/7?"

"Charm girls?"

"Don't try to be a smartass Ian I will beat you with your words until you bleed." We continued to banter, the blonde behind us being all but forgotten. However, unbeknownst to both of us, she had a glare place on both our backs and a sentence running through her head.

 _He is mine_.

 **Hi :)**

 **Super massive chapter** **today because I'm procrastinating from revising, yay! I'm a great role model ;) Anyway I hope your weeks have been great, even though it's Monday, so it's probably dragged on quite a bit by this point.**

 **Thanks for all the great reviews last chapter, they really made me smile :) Tell me what you thought of this chapter ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	11. Chapter 11

Smiling down at my feet, I made my way back home. The grin touching my lips had nothing to do with school having ended for the weekend, but rather a certain grey eyed boy who'd captivated my attention the whole day. However, all of these feelings of happiness dissipated the minute I went to dig in my pocket for my keys.

My parents were probably on the other side of that door, waiting for me. I'd come back home really late after the fainting incident with Ian, and then had left again before anyone could wake up, so they'd be furious. Not just that, but they'd still pressure me with the ideas that had made me leave the house in the first place.

 _"So, Althea, we've been wondering, your mother and I." My parents were really into their British accents and their posh language, but I was willing to separate myself from them and let them get to their own devices. In the back ground, a toddler squealed, then one screamed. No one even turned a head in the direction of the shouts._

 _"Um, yeah?" I could see my dad waging whether it was worth it to tell me to not say the word 'yeah' – too vulgar for their delicate, money-grown ears. But mum placed a hand on his shoulder and the struggle was over, finally going back on track._

 _"There's another savant family in town. The Benedicts. You've heard of them, yes?" Already rolling my eyes, I muttered some form of agreement, not even bothering with giving them a proper response. I could see where this was going._

 _My parents, they weren't all that hard to read. All they ever said was 'do that so we can earn more money' or 'don't spend on that so we can have more money'. I was guessing that they'd go for the former today. Joy._

 _"They have a soulseeker in their family, a very powerful savant who's addressed by the name of Crystal." I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from shouting that 'who's called' would've been a much easier way to tell me her name._

 _"What do you want me to do about it?" My rebellious streak was coming in, and I was digging my nails into my palms to stop it from exploding all over the place. I may do whatever I want outside of the house, but when my parents were involved it was a whole different matter._

 _"We've been wondering whether you want to ask her to find your soulfinder."_

I felt sick imagining the idea of going over to Crystal Benedict's house and ordering her to find me a soulfinder stat. I didn't want one, I didn't need one, and I sure as hell wasn't going to actively seek him out.

Sitting down on the curb, as far away from my house as I could get, I looked up at the blue sky. My mind wanted to imagine that rockets had moulded the clouds, but I didn't let it. I needed to form a decent argument to be able to avoid them finding my soulfinder for me. It wasn't all that difficult. I could think of the first reason straight off the top of my head: I didn't _do_ people. I just didn't. Even Maisee, who'd been my friend for close to a year now, didn't have the privilege of spending time with me outside of school on a regular basis. I wouldn't be able to maintain a healthy friendship, let alone a relationship.

Not just that, but what was to say this guy would even like me at all? I screamed at anyone who got too close, liked to wear weird clothes, and was a complete basket-case that didn't even comprehend how to act in a functioning society. He wouldn't get close enough to get to know me – the me that read books of pirate's adventures in the sea and dreamed of stars and pixy dust – before he ran a mile in the other direction. I supposed I'd put that on myself a bit, but it's the way I liked it. Or, at least, that's what I wanted to believe.

And even if he _did_ like me, what if he was like the rest of them? Another drone that society had produced, acting and thinking like everyone else? What if he went through his life and all he ever thought about was how nice girls look and what would play next on telly? It wouldn't be that odd, my school was full of them.

He wouldn't comprehend how my mind works. When I told him about thoughts being too loud, whilst at the same time everything being so quiet that I could hear stars scraping against the sky, would he even understand? I couldn't love a rule follower when my mind didn't even understand what the rules _were_.

Closing my eyes shut tightly, I rubbed against my forehead tiredly. I'd stated all my reasons against soulfinders, but none of them seemed enough. Because somewhere out there, a boy was staring at the same sky as me, wondering if his soulfinder could hear stars and feel thoughts. Shaking myself to get the horribly optimistic thought out of my head, I went to stand up. This was stupid, but the sooner I said no, the more time they'd have to comprehend that their daughter would sooner give them grand-cats than grandchildren.

"Althea?" Glancing, up, still on my spot on the ground, I saw Ian, worry across his features. And I realised what I must've looked like, with my face buried in my hands and shoulders shaking with the weight of the world. I must've looked so pathetic. So I pulled myself up to my full height, which wasn't much, and smiled my most vibrant smile. Like hell I was going to let this pull me down.

"You ok?"

"I was going to ask the same thing. I thought you were crying."

"Nah, just thinking about stuff."

"Bad stuff?"

"Very very bad." I said, nodding solemnly with my words as if I was telling him my greatest secret. Sarcasm laced my words, adding to the effect of not giving a damn. His eyes lit up with humour, and I could feel my own glowing in response.

"Now you're just taking the piss."

"Maybe." I shrugged, but I still had a smile on my face so he let it drop. For a minute, we both stood there, and I was unsure of what to do. So I let myself do whatever I wanted. And that, for some reason, meant whispering: "I worry because I feel it's illicit for me to dream. I worry because sometimes I hear stars, but the rest of the world doesn't. I worry because I'm me, and thinking loudly is what I do." Before turning on my heel and leaving the most perplexed person in the world in my wake.

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry this is kind of short, but I hope you guys liked it :)**

 **I'm gonna give a cookie to all of you who gave me a review, they made me so happy to read ^.^**

 **Also, on a side note which has nothing to do with Hearing Althea, a story about Aubrey is about to go up! She's from fixing Petal, although you won't need to read it to read the new one.** ** _And_** **as a sneak peak, I'm putting this up:**

 **Aubrey is your typical goody-two-shoes, doing everything her parents say, and getting ideal grades. Her life is a far cry from perfect, so she hides behind all of this, hoping no one can catch a glimpse of what's underneath. Enter Matt, who's convinced to make her forget all about her stupid little rules. His life is in shambles too, but he doesn't care. Aubrey would love to not care, Matt to get good enough grades to pass. But when new situations arise, is that all they'd love to do?**

 **Ok so it's still in the planning process so far, but the first chapter should come out pretty soon :) tell me what you think ^.^**

 **Bye bye!**


	12. Chapter 12

"Young lady, where do you think you've been?" Swallowing hard, I felt my shoulders tense up. Whilst talking to Ian I'd almost been able to forget what awaited me on the other side of this door. Slipping my shoes off, I strived for nonchalance, forcing my hands to unclench from the fists they'd formed. I looked up, finding them both frowning down at me.

"Out."

"Speak in sentences." I glared at my dad, the rest of the happiness I'd gotten outside flying straight out the window. Flashing him the angriest look I could, I pushed past them, making my way into the kitchen. But of course it wouldn't be this easy. They followed me there, still waiting for a reply. My mum had that blank look on her face she always did, like she didn't care that her husband was about to grill his daughter into submission.

"I. Was. Out." The sentence came out through my clenched teeth, and I couldn't help but think of Ian outside. He was still one of my least favourite people on the planet, but in that moment I wished to be talking to him, sun in my face and sweets in my mouth. Instead, I was in this dark house, where the only sources of light were harsh lights that made the white walls glare. But I was strong, and I didn't _wish_ for things. I did them.

"Out where?" Without looking back, or answering my dad's question, I walked straight out the kitchen door I'd come through. I heard footsteps scrambling behind me, but ignored them. Sure, I was normally willing to let my parents step all over me, but I'd remembered who I was. I didn't bow down to other people's commands, nor did I put up with shit from others. And I sure as hell wasn't about to start now. Swooping down, I picked up my shoes, and marched out the door. A faint shout was heard behind me, but the door was closing and the noise was being blocked, and it suddenly didn't exist anymore. Sighing in relief, I jogged down our porch.

My socks were getting wet from the grass I was stepping on, yet I couldn't find it in me to care. Looking left and right, I found Ian sat a couple houses down, on the curb much like I'd been before. He was staring up at the sky, a lost look in his eyes. It reminded me of the look my eyes often had as I gazed in the mirror, when I couldn't force myself to keep pretending to be ok. Shaking my head to banish the image, I stalked up to him, kicking his leg.

"Ow- what- Althea?" And just as it had appeared, the sad look dissipated from his features, all that was left behind being a smirk. I couldn't force myself to keep looking at his mask, so I gazed up instead, seeing the cotton-candy clouds. Which wasn't the best idea, considering I was prone to daydreaming. Soon images of swimming through clouds and dancing with stars overtook my mind, me having to push them all back to remain able to hold a conversation.

"The one and only. Get up asshole, we're going on a fieldtrip." I didn't know why I was doing this, I could've enjoyed my free afternoon on my own. Not bothering to wait up for him, I continued walking, hoping he'd catch up soon. For the first time in my life, I actually wanted company to distract me from my thoughts. Ian was just my choice because he was good at chasing trains of thought away with his arguments and annoying words. Or at least that's what I was trying to convince myself of.

"Oh what fun. And what reason is there for the magical fairy Althea to grace me with her presence?" Dreading this question, I simply kicked his shin again, hoping he'd get the hint. If he didn't, I'd have to leave it clear that I wanted him to stay the hell out of my business, and that wasn't ever fun. "Wait, are you not wearing shoes?" Sighing exasperatedly, I dangled my converse in front of his eyes, rolling my eyes at him. But I couldn't really be annoyed at him, whilst my mind was still in the clouds.

"Nope. Nice observation skills there Sherlock." I'd forced my eyes downward a while ago, but the perfect blue sky, only marred by cotton clouds was engraved into my mind. Clouds took beautiful shapes in my mind, spinning and spinning until they were no longer clouds and I was no longer me.

"And… Are those mismatched socks?" Looking down, I saw he was right. One was a light blue and the other a bright green. I couldn't find it in me to care. A cloud formed a bunny rabbit right under my eyes, another one merged into a turtle. They were going to race, but I wasn't a spectator. I wasn't much of anything – just a being that floated somewhere below, looking up at something that wasn't truly there.

"Maybe."

"Jesus Christ, I can't believe I'm about to do this." I cocked my head at him curiously, wondering what he meant. Soon it became clear, as he ripped the converse out of my hands, kneeling down to put them on my feet. And I was no longer entranced by what was above me, all my attention on the cute boy in front of me, doing up my laces as if I was five.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing, Benedict?" Instead of being deterred by my harsh words, he just sent me a glare from his spot on the ground. Tugging my foot until I had no other option than lift it up, he slipped it on, quickly doing the laces. In that moment, I wondered what the fuck _I_ was doing, because I was letting him do something I'd explicitly told him not to – no one had got away with doing that before. Maybe it was because I'd been daydreaming about clouds. I was willing to believe that, even if there was a voice in my head saying I wasn't dreaming anymore, and I still hadn't pulled away.

"Just shut it, alright Sanders?" I wanted to hit him, whilst at the same time I wanted coo at him. He was supposed to hate me, not do nice things or me, I wasn't all that sure what the protocol for this situation was.

"No, seriously, what the fuck." But I wasn't pulling away, and neither was he, and we were just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, with him tying my shoes for me like we were in a scene straight out of Cinderella. Without me even noticing, a blush rose high on my cheeks, making my embarrassment even further once I became aware of all the blood rushing to my head.

"I just want to avoid another incident like the other day."

"What, when I fainted?" He gave a deft nod. I noticed he'd finished, but was still not getting up. Maybe he was just as embarrassed as I was. I dispelled that thought quickly, it was just wishful thinking. Of course he wasn't nervous, I was the only one here who'd never allowed someone of the opposite sex to touch them. "Aw, you don't need to worry about me, _babe_." Trying to dispel some of the tension flittering across my body, I made a crude joke that was more appropriate for his type of personality than mine. God, he was influencing me with his narcissistic pig personality already.

"Don't flatter yourself." He got up as he said this. It was probably my imagination, but I thought I saw a blush on his cheeks too before he turned away, scratching the back of his neck. "Now come on, I thought you were taking me somewhere?" Glad we were back to territory I was comfortable in, I started walking again. I had no idea where we were walking, not a care in the world – just as I liked it. "Why'd you want me to come anyway? Miss me already?"

"I need someone annoying enough to distract me." He scoffed at my words, and I couldn't help but feel relief flood my chest – he was acting like himself again. Doing nice things for me like making sure my feet didn't get cold didn't suit him, not to mention it unleashed a tingling in my stomach that I didn't like.

"Yeah, right. We both know you love me, princess." I didn't know at what point Ian and I had started calling each other pet names with a sarcastic tone of voice, but it scared me how natural it came by this point.

"In your dreams, your highness."

"Hell yeah." He winked at me, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from castrating. But just as soon as I decided not to kill him, I lost all self-control, throwing myself on him, sending him toppling backwards onto someone's lawn. "Babe, if you wanted to get on me this bad, you should've just asked."

"You disgusting, self-absorbed, perverted, piece of shit."

" _Wow_ , look at your large vocabulary." Rolling my eyes at him, I climbed off him, placing myself down beside him. We were both laying down on a random person's garden, gazing up at the sky – it shouldn't have felt as natural and normal as it did. The weirdest part was that he had my full concentration, not a single part of me drifting towards the sky, wanting to fly. Ian scrambled to get up, but I stopped him, putting my hand on his shoulder. For some reason, I wanted to stay for a bit longer.

"Where are you going?"

"We can't just lie on someone's front yard Althea."

"Sure we can. Look at me doing it right now." To exaggerate my point, I spread out my arms, almost as if I was making a snow-angel. Ignoring me, he continued getting up, shaking my hand off. Not wanting to move yet though, I said the one thing that would get him to stay. "Wuss."

"What did you just call me?"

"A wuss. Cause you obviously haven't grown a pair yet."

"You're one to talk." He then put the most patronising look I'd ever seen in my life, and crouched next to me, patting my head. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you don't have a pair, Althea. Girls don't have balls."

"Sure I do, a pair of ovaries." Rolling his eyes at me, much like I'd done to him before, he sighed. But he did as I asked, laying back down next to me. Smiling in triumph, I didn't allow myself to wonder why I was so happy after talking to Ian.

"Smartass."

"Call me whatever you want, but I still won." After a moment of comfortable silence, he spoke up again, our conversation topic completely forgotten.

"By the way, about your words from before-" Panic whirred in my head, alarm bells going off everywhere. I couldn't talk about what I'd said to him, because I didn't fully comprehend it myself. God, why had I said 'thinking loudly is what I do'? I'd already assumed that if I ever said that to anyone they'd run a mile. That hadn't be bothered me much before… but Ian was different.

"Shh!"

"Huh?"

"We… We need to hide!"

"What, why?" My mind whizzed, looking for a reason to hide and not speak, when my answer came in the form of a car, coming down the street. I didn't know if it belonged to the owner of this house, but it was worth a shot.

"The owner of the house, he's coming."

"We could just step off his lawn."

"That takes all the fun out of it."

"How old _are_ you?" The car was fast approaching, so I took his hand, dragging him to hide in one of the bushes around the guy's house. For his comment, I slapped his arm lightly, but I was paying more attention to the garage, praying with all my might that the car would go in, so we'd have an excuse to stay hidden here in silence just a little bit longer. It didn't, unsurprisingly, simply going past.

"Aw damn, it wasn't his house."

"Do you live off of adrenaline or something?"

"Nothing wrong with that. Adventures make life more interesting."

"Whatever you say, nutter."

"I do say, asshole." Taking out a packet of haribos from my pocket, I popped one in my mouth, grinning cheekily as he glared at me. And here, in our hiding spot in someone else's house, with the most aggravating boy on the face of Earth, I realised I never wanted to move.

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry this is a bit late, but I've been so busy lately. But I've just got half of my exams left and after that you guys will be getting two chapters each week!** ** _And_** **Aubrey's story will be published. Think you can wait til then? ;) I hope so xD**

 **Guys there were so many reviews last chapter, thank you so much! You're the best, honestly :) They were such lovely reviews too, they made me so happy ^.^ Do you think we can get to 33 reviews? Just like in Fixing Petal there's no obligation to do this, but when we reach the target I'll be posting up a new chapter :D**

 **Bye bye xx**


	13. Chapter 13

Ian's POV

"I do say, asshole." She said, an amused twinkle overtaking her eyes. And in our hiding spot, away from the rest of the world, I allowed myself to smile at her. My shoulders felt as if a weight had been taken off of them, here where no one could look at us and be judgemental. Finally, I was free, and I'd somehow found that in Althea.

"Thanks Ally."

"I thought I told you not to call me that." But I could see her heart wasn't really into it, so I waited for her to reply to my comment. I was being so weird, saying thanks when she'd done nothing apart from being her annoying self, but for once I felt like that was ok. I was always such a massive dick, she deserved at least a thanks for putting up with me, even if she was just as much of a brat. "What for?" Her eyes softened, but a nonchalant expression remained on her features, almost as if she could brush anything I said off. In a way, that made me feel all the better about saying this. Not to mention that the hottest girl I'd ever met was right beside me, and her intoxicating smell of strawberries and pure sugar was driving me insane.

"Distracting me from my own mind."

"I thought you were the one helping me." She lightly nudged my shoulder, leaving me unable to breathe for a couple of seconds. A brief thought flickered in my mind, wondering why we were still hiding here, but it was quickly pushed back. This was too enjoyable. I knew it was wrong, yet I never wanted to move. Scoffing at my own thoughts, I had to stop myself from going down that route. If I kept thinking like this I'd end up acting like it in public, and I couldn't allow that to happen.

"Pshhh, I doubt the almighty Althea would ever need help."

"Aw thanks babe." Winking at me, she literally swept my breath away. God, did she know how sexy it was when she did things like that? All I wanted to do was kiss her, but I dug my nails into my palms instead. Even if we were away from the world, that didn't mean I could kiss any girl randomly. And then everything crashed back on me all at once – how Althea was weird, and was considered a social outcast at school. What would people think if we started dating? No matter how crazy she drove me, I couldn't let the image I'd been building up for years just crumble for a girl I'd met only for a couple of weeks. "Ian you ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I considered asking her about that sentence she'd said before, her thinking it wasn't allowed for her to dream, because I felt exactly the same way. And she seemed to handle it so well, simply dreaming anyway. I wanted to ask her how she did it, how she said 'fuck you' to all the world's expectations whilst I was left rendered completely useless, faking away. But then I remembered that panicked look she'd gotten last time I asked and – cursing to myself for being such a wuss and caring too much about her feelings – I simply swallowed it down. "But yeah, what's up with your socks?"

"Don't mock it just because you don't understand it." She said this as if she was a wise old man with a whole life of experience, when I was pretty sure the only reason was that she was too lazy to search for a matching pair.

"I understand it alright."

"Do you really?" Ignoring the patronising tone in her voice, I pushed her with my shoulder, causing her to topple over.

"Yeah, you're lazy." I expected her to get back up, but she didn't, simply laying there on the ground, twigs and dirt probably getting stuck in her short hair. My hands twitched to sweep the muck out, but I stopped them before they could even get close. Althea and I were starting to become friends, but that didn't make it acceptable for me to do stuff like that. She probably still hated me anyway.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"God, how old are we?"

"Mental or physical age? 'Cause I'm pretty sure at the moment they're wildly different."

"Yeah, I mean I have the mental age of a wise 80 year old man."

"With farts for a brain." She whispered under her breath. Annoyed at her, I trapped both her wrists placing them above her head, leaning on top of her. Realising what I did, my eyes widened, and I took in a startled breath. But Althea seemed completely ok, glaring me down from her position on the ground. In fact, she didn't even look more annoyed now I had her pinned. And then there was me, completely shell-shocked and wondering what had possessed me to do this. "You're so damn heavy Benedict." Taking this as my queue, I ricocheted backwards, going as far as the tiny space allowed. Althea also incorporated herself, making my eyes zero down on the floor. Anywhere but on her.

"I- I- Ah- Um-" I felt a cumbersome blush creep its way on my cheeks, and had to stop myself from screaming in frustration. This couldn't be happening. What was I, a prepubescent girl in front of her crush?

"You seem a bit out of it today Benedict."

"You're always out of it Sanders."

"That's what I want you to believe." She punctuated her sentence with another wink. No matter how many times she repeated the action, I'd never get tired of it, or the feelings it unleashed in my chest. I was a man damn it, I didn't get butterflies. Shaking my head, I tried to force it all out. It wasn't helped by the fact that Althea seemed completely unaffected, laying back against a tree trunk and eating haribos as if we hadn't been so close we could've kissed.

"Yeah right. You wouldn't be able to keep something to yourself if you tried."

"That's not true." Finally displaying an emotion on her face that wasn't comfort, she flashed me an annoyed look. I smiled in triumph before hiding it behind a cough, afraid she would see how much I enjoyed pissing her off.

"You do whatever's on your mind. Of course you wouldn't be able to keep a secret."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." And then, shocking the hell out of me, she booped my nose, getting up. Shaking dirt off the back of her skirt, she walked away, leaving me completely dumbfounded.

"Hey, where you going?" I asked, still unsure of what was going on. Why was she walking away from the only happy moment I'd had in a long time? When I'd wished for this to last forever I knew it had been wishful thinking, but I didn't think she'd leave me so soon. I needed her like I needed air, as cheesy as that sounded.

"I come and go as I wish." Disappearing as if she'd never existed, she left me hiding in someone's bushes with a cold heart. Whereas before I'd felt exhilarated, like this was the adventure of my life, I now felt silly, and I'd lost all the fire that had been burning up my insides. No more butterflies, no, those had flown away, chasing Althea. They'd been cumbersome, but I couldn't help but want them back.

 _Expectations are dumb. I suppose in a way they're like stars._ I looked around, unsure as to where that thought was coming from. But before I could reach a verdict it started up again. _They're ridiculously out of reach, and yet we all follow them anyway. Except stars are beautiful, making a picture-perfect sky – whilst expectations are wretched and make my stomach lurch._

" _Zed._ " I growled under my breath, slamming my shields shut. Yet that didn't stop my brain repeating the person's words. I liked that analogy, but at the same time I really didn't, because it put words to my fear. 'Make my stomach lurch', god I couldn't have described it better. Whenever I forced myself to do something awful because of how society wanted me to act, all I could feel was an acid in my chest, slowly enveloping me until I became one of them. Surely by force of habit, at one point I'd turn into one of them, both inside and out, not just through my actions. I never wanted that day to come. I wanted to hide here forever, away from all of it, until the rest of the world disappeared.

Except, if I closed my eyes and left the world behind I'd never see Althea again. And, for some reason, I found myself walking away from my safe haven. Maybe leaving wouldn't be such a good idea, but I did so anyway, almost as if I wasn't afraid of all that awaited me out there. All I could see in my mind was Althea smirking. Althea winking. Althea smiling that infatuating smile of hers that had me gripping onto the nearest surface for dear life. Just _Althea_. Which was dumb – she was just a chic a bit on the crazy side who I barely knew. And yet I felt as if she knew me better than anyone I'd ever met, because no one had ever made me comfortable enough to feel as if I was free from the shackles of society.

This was stupid, I needed to forget all about that gorgeous spitfire of a girl, who was making my guard drop. I was who I was, I couldn't just stop acting like society told me to due to a single girl acting otherwise. So I squared my shoulders, and just like that, my cocky smirk was back in place.

I was Ian again.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok so I uploaded this as soon as I could, cos you guys reached the target super fast, much faster than I can write, anyway ;) You're all stars :)**

 **I hope you liked this chapter, even though it was just a continuation from the last one. It just had a bit more explanation of the current relationship between Ian and Althea. Oh, and to the reviewer who wants them to kiss, all in due time ;) Nah, jk, it'll probably happen soon, dw. I'm not** ** _that_** **much of a monster xD**

 **Do you reckon we can get to 37 reviews this chapter? Fingers crossed :)**

 **Bye bye x**


	14. Chapter 14

Althea's POV:

I looked up at the sunset, which bathed the meadow in golden oranges, and wondered how long this could last. Everything around me was silent, which meant that soon the noise inside my head would start. Ignoring my impending doom, I allowed myself to get lost in the beauty of this place. A few daisies grew sparsely across the grass, their pure white petals being illuminated by the soft glow of the setting sun. Everything was so beautiful in these few seconds before my mind took control.

As the sun continued its path into oblivion, a few stars appeared right before my eyes, making me smile in absolute wonder. They were so majestic, tiny pinpricks of light against a backdrop of never-ending black. I wish I had my telescope to look at them closer, admire them with the reverence they deserved. After all, they were more than small dots to be examined by humans – they were the life source of the universe, that which would illuminate the path for future generations.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I started listening for something that wasn't there. I didn't know what I expected to hear. Perhaps the thunderous roar of leaves clashing against leaves, or the sound of stars as they glided against the sky. Sometimes they created a melody, other times a nerve-wrecking screeching that I couldn't get to go away by simply covering my ears. But suddenly my body became hyper aware of the resounding silence around me. It didn't take well to that.

Grass brushing against one another became the sound of swords clashing in a battlefield full of bloodshed and pain. My fiddling fingers in my lap became the sound of a million drums beating out chaos in the form of music. And stars formed no melody, no, they made the loudest noise of all. I wasn't sure how to describe it. They sounded like pure electricity, and hope, but also broken promises, wishes that were once upon a time directed at them never coming to be.

I couldn't breathe. _I couldn't breathe_.

I fumbled for my phone, my hazed state allowing for little else. Turning it on was a process, but luckily my lungs were allowing air back into them, even if the tremendous uproar never quietened down. Clicking the first number on my contacts, not really caring who it was, I pressed my phone against my ear, hoping it would drown out the rest of the noise. It was just wishful thinking.

"Hello?" My heart said it was Ian, yet the rest of my brain was going into overdrive, making it hard to tell if I was right or not. In the background, a cricket chirped, and I swore I could see the waves of sound surrounding me in an impenetrable blur.

"Help." I couldn't tell if I was whispering or shouting, everything around me was so loud and echoing and I couldn't hear anything apart from it. Just it it it, ubiquitously.

"What's wrong?"

"I- I-"

"I'm in the car right now, where are you?"

"The meadow. Ask Maisee." The sentence left my mouth in gasped out breaths. I couldn't believe I was asking _Ian_ for help. Yet, at the same time I couldn't imagine asking anyone else.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." With that he hung up, leaving me alone. The noise didn't let me feel alone – but I was certainly lonely. My knees felt weak, buckling under my weight, as I fell forward. The music of the world on full volume continued to thunder in my head

Ian's POV:

I sped down the road, much faster than the speeding limit allowed. At the same time, I talked to Maisee, who was giving me rapid-fire instructions about how to get to the infamous meadow. I could hear my blood pumping in my ears, and the adrenaline cursing through my veins was greater than anything I'd ever felt before. It was all just a rolling emotion of _save her save her save her_ , over and over again until I felt as if I was going mad.

 _Right and now you turn left here and you're there._

 _Thanks Maisee._

 _No probs. Good luck. And… Ian?_

 _Yeah?_

 _Take care of her for me._ As if I need to be told that. I didn't snicker though, knowing it would hurt her feelings, instead just answering with an affirmative, cutting off the conversation. As I banged the door closed and rushed into the meadow, I expected to see a large man beating her up, or raping her. Or… something. Instead, all I saw was Althea. That was the scariest part of all.

How do you save someone from themselves?

"Althea! Althea!" Running up to her as quick as I could manage, I kneeled next to her, cradling her in my arms. Her ashen face didn't so much as move an inch, yet remained with a tortured look on her features. I stared at her, trying to find the similarities between this girl and the one that hid in people's driveways, only ate candy, and always had a wacky idea in her head. This wasn't Althea. It couldn't be.

Yes, it looked like her, but my mind couldn't fathom the idea that she'd ever look so lifeless. Her body limp, without the confident, sexy stance she always carried herself with. Her eyes absent of their sparkle, just blank nothingness, as if she couldn't even see me. Her lips drawn into a flat line of pain, a grimace taking hold. I wished for her smirk to come back, no matter how much it irked me before.

"Althea, please say something. What's wrong? Do I need to call 911?"

"No. No, I-"

"Don't you dare say you're fine." No matter how much I tried to keep an indignant expression on my features, it soon melted away to give way to absolute relief at the fact that she was responding.

"But I am."

"I found you collapsed in a meadow, don't give me that bullshit."

"Whatever." Struggling in my arms, she gave a massive hint that she wanted me to let go of her. Over my dead body. Standing up, with her still in my arms, I carried her bridal style to the car. She fought me the whole way, tempting me to dump her unceremoniously in the back seat, locking her in there. Considering she was ill though, I decided to cut her some slack, putting her in the co-pilot seat. I even tied her seat belt for her. I deserved a Boy Scout badge for my valiant effort to not bite her head off.

"Right, now stay still."

"Ok, _mum_."

"Do you _want_ me to dump you in the nearest bin?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah? Try me." With that I slammed her door shut, going over to my side as quickly as I could. I had the feeling she might try to escape, just to prove a point. I didn't know _what_ she'd be proving, but, really, you never knew with Althea, so it wasn't anything new. By the time I'd gotten back into the car, I found she hadn't attempted much of anything. In fact, her head had lolled to the side, and she'd fallen asleep in a couple of seconds.

Whatever had happened to her in that meadow must have been exhausting and horrifying. My heart ached for her, even if she annoyed me 90% of the time.

"Sweet dreams." I whispered to her. I wasn't sure why I did, just that everything was going to shit around us. I at least wanted her to have a sliver of peace.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok, I've got a couple things to say today. First of all, t the guest who wants longer chapters, next chapter will be super duper long promise :) Second of all: holy shit. Excuse my french but oh my god guys, do you realise how absolutely fabulous you all are? We got to** ** _40_** **last chapter, how crazy is that?**

 **Also, in case any of you were wondering, Althea's little freak out will be explained soon-ish, don't worry :) Although I'll give you a hint: it has to do with her power.**

 **The goal for this chapter is 44 reviews. Hopefully we can manage it :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	15. Chapter 15

Leah's POV:

"Ian! Hey." I waved to him as he sat down, sending him my best smile. He didn't even grin back. I felt my lips drooping down before I forced them back up again. This wasn't the first time Ian had been spacey around me, and I wasn't about to let it deter me. I whispered my mantra in my mind, 'he's mine', until I believed it. It was getting harder by the day. Each time he glanced at Althea my heart sank a little further in my chest. "Ian?"

"Huh?"

"You were daydreaming."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Absentmindedly, he touched his fingers to his lips, leaving me fuming on the spot. Had he… Oh I couldn't even think of it. He couldn't have. He was _mine_. Ignoring the part of me that said it had been a long time since that had even registered as true with me, I pushed my shoulders back.

"Remember that place I told you about? The coffee shop."

"Yeah." He still wasn't looking at me. My hands clenched under the table, until I forced them to let go. I felt sick down to my very core. I guess I'd always known. He was never mine.

"Wanna go now?" Finally snapping out of it, he glanced around, noticing that our table was empty. I'd told the girls to scram, in hopes of today being the day. My stomach tightened – no day would be the day. I didn't know why I was suddenly realising he had feelings for Althea, or why I was being so affected by it. It hadn't bothered me before. I was simply convinced that one day he'd look at me and see what he'd been missing.

"Shouldn't we wait for the rest?"

"Nah, I'm sure they won't mind." Standing up carefully, I tried not to let my weak knees show to anyone. I was strong, I'd be damned before I let anyone see otherwise. Yet, at the moment, I wasn't feeling very strong at all. I felt like a lost little girl that had just been told the world would never be kind to her.

"Okay." As we went outside, we saw Althea, sat alone under a tree. For a minute, I tensed, thinking of ways to stop Ian from leaving my side. But then he had gone, and I was standing alone, looking on at the scene that would be my demise. My stomach lurched again, so much so that I felt my face pale.

He walked away from me, confidence in his stride. When he caught up with her under that stupid tree she was always under, his self-assured posture disappeared, a relaxed stance being taken instead. Kneeling next to her, he talked to her for a few seconds, much closer than was truly necessary. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore what I was seeing. I heard laughter, Althea's high ringing voice merging in with Ian's deep bass until I couldn't tell them apart anymore. It continued, for what felt like forever, my head pounding behind closed eyelids. Somehow I'd come to leaning on the wall, everything spinning around me.

This had to be more than simple jealousy. I felt physically ill.

"Leah? Leah!"

Ian's POV:

Rushing up to her as she fell to the side, I scooped her into my arms.

"Ally, help me." Tossing her Leah's bag, I started jogging to the nurse's. Whatever had happened to her, it was obviously bad, and if she needed an ambulance I wanted her to get one as soon as possible. I might sometimes agree with Althea in that she was a bit of an airhead, but she was still a lovely girl. She didn't deserve any of the insults Ally threw her way.

"Wait, what's going on? Is she ok?"

"Oh, no insults?" She finally caught up with me, having to run to keep up with my pace. All of our bags thundered on her back, clashing against one another. Even though there was a girl in my arms, my gaze kept drifting over to her, wondering if it was perhaps too much weight for her.

"You look worried. I… I don't know why that stops me from insulting her." My heart boomed in my chest, it having nothing to do with the collapsed girl in my arms. Did she just admit she cared? I was probably reading too much into it, yet that didn't stop my mind from going into overdrive, nor my hands from tingling with the thought of holding her to me.

The nurse's fast approaching door stopped me from having to formulate a response, as I knocked loudly on it. An annoyed voice from inside answered.

"Who's making all that racket? It better not be-" Slamming the door open, she glared at us from over her small glasses. That is, until she noticed Leah, her whole demeanour changing. "Oh gosh. Bring her inside. What happened?" Laying her down on the cot the nurse directed me to, I tried to forget all about Ally behind me, despite me feeling her gaze burning holes into my back.

"She collapsed a few minutes ago." I heard blood rushing through my ears, my heartbeat marking an erratic rhythm to send me even more on edge. The worst part was that I didn't think it was because of Leah. I felt absolutely awful, yet I couldn't stop thinking about Ally's words. Me looking worried was enough to snap her out of her normally rude persona. Why did that feel so exhilarating?

"Ok, I'll just run a few tests, but we'll probably need to send her to the hospital unless she wakes up." Nodding understandingly, I took a step back, sitting on one of the chairs placed around the room. Ally came to sit with me soon after, leaning into my ear. Her scent of pure sugar practically drove me up a wall, so I clenched the armrests as hard as I could to keep myself fixed to the spot. I didn't think this was the time, nor place, to be making out with the girl I'd been crushing on for months now. In any case, I didn't even know if she wanted me to. The only indication she'd given me so far that she felt the same way was five minutes ago. That surely wasn't enough to go on.

"Are you ok?" Her breath sent shivers going down my back. I held onto the chair harder, in hopes it would keep me rooted. Her presence threatened to send me hurtling sky-high, a place where no expectations existed. Yet the nurse was looking at us, and Leah was ill, and there was too much happening at once for me to add something new to the list.

"Never better."

"We both know that's a lie." Tentatively, her hand came to rest on mine. Prying my fingers away from the armrest, slowly she made me forget all about the room around us. "It'll be ok." I didn't know whether she was saying this about the situation with Leah, or the rest of the mess going on around us, but I didn't care. Her voice, which was normally teasing, was now full of concern and comfort. I let it wash over me, in an attempt to forget all the pressure.

"What if it isn't? What if life is just a cycle of one thing going wrong after another? What if we're doomed to keep pretending to be happy in a reality not meant for us?"

"Then… Then we learn to live in our own reality." And looking deep into her eyes, I believed her.

"Oh! She's awake!" The nurse jumped up from her desk, going over to stand next to Leah. Her eyes blinked open, a wave of relief invading me. Maybe if this was ok, everything else could be. Standing up too, I went to get closer to her, asking her if she was ok. I truly did care for her, even if she'd only started as a friendship of convenience to avoid becoming an outcast in school. I could finally forget about the presence of Ally behind me, chatting away with Leah and the nurse about what had occurred. Yet her words kept echoing around my head, about us creating our own reality.

Oh how I wished it were true.

This wasn't so bad, I tried to comfort myself. It didn't work. No matter how many times I told myself that this was fine, I simply couldn't settle for 'fine'. I wanted exciting, exhilarating, fun, freedom. Looking back at Ally, who was now laying along several chairs, a lollipop in her mouth and playing flappy bird on her phone, I knew she could give me all those things.

"Hey Ally?" She looked at me from her peripherals, a corner of her mouth going up in form of confirmation. "I'd like that."

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok so this chapter was basically Ian admitting to himself that he likes Ally, and it was honestly so much fun to write, so I hope you guys had fun reading it too :) And to all those of you who want them to date already, it'll be happening in few chapter's time. That's all I can say fr now tho ;)**

 **Holy crow guys, we passed the target** ** _again_** **last time, and by loads. I'm basically on cloud 9 thanks to all of you xD And if you keep bringing them in, I can totally promise a chapter every 3 days. So do you think we can get to 51 reviews this chapter?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	16. Chapter 16

Althea's POV:

I pretended to focus on the game in front of me, while really I was just listening to the nurse's conversation with Ian and Leah. Something about her needing to go to hospital to check it out, even though it was probably just a nasty virus. That wasn't the bit I was interested in though. Strangely enough all I wanted to hear was Ian's voice. Saying whatever, I didn't care, but it was nice to hear it smooth and relaxed after that moment of panic from before.

I'd never seen his façade drop like that. Normally I only got glimpses of the real Ian, yet this time it was like his whole pretence had collapsed around him – all that was left behind was a scared boy, not knowing what to do without his fortress walls surrounding him. I'd said to myself time and time again that I'd kill to see _him_ , the real him, but never like this. If Ian was so lost without his protection, then who was I to try to rip it away?

"Yeah, it's probably just a stomach flu. Ok so I'll go get the principle to sign you out, be back in a bit." With that the nurse left, leaving all of us alone, awkwardness hanging heavily in the air. I didn't mind it much, simply tapping away at my phone.

"What's _she_ doing here?" I tried not to let it show that her words affected me, my jaw clenching all the same. It annoyed me, how she'd just woken up and her first thought was staking her claim over Ian. He might not notice how that girl watched him like a hawk, but I did, and I'd be damned before I let her sink her talons into him.

"Just helping out a friend." Swinging my legs off the chairs, I walked over to Ian, making it very clear just who that friend was. Wouldn't want her small brain thinking, even for one second, that she could be that friend. I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than become acquainted to her.

"Pfft, yeah right."

"Guys what are you two even talking about? Why can't you get along for _two seconds_?" Ian interrupted our little chat, leaving my side to go stand in front of me. I highly doubted it was to protect me from airhead over there. It was probably the other way around.

"I tried. Hell, I even brought her bag."

"You- you did?"

"Yeah. I might think you're just a blond bimbo whose skills only pertain to putting on lipstick, but you needed help. So I helped."

"That's… wow, that's actually nice of you." Ian's shoulders visibly relaxed at her comment. He'd probably expected her to jump at my throat for my words on her being a bimbo. Not that it wasn't true.

"Don't get used to it." With that, I walked out of the room, kicking one of the uncomfortable chairs for good measure. God knows what had possessed me to do that. Why had I been, god forbid, _nice_ to her? Up until now I hated her guts, as she obviously was his friend solely for the first row seat to dating him. Yet whilst Ian and I had talked earlier, I'd realised one thing – I might like him, and I might want to come tearing into his life, destroying that silly mask of his. But I _never_ wanted to see that heartbroken expression on his face again. The one that told me that everything was breaking around him – that he just needed normal. If Leah could give him normal, well, then I wasn't going to intervene.

"Ally! Ally wait up, for fuck's sake." Turning around, I saw Ian holding both of our bags, running to catch up with me. I couldn't face him now, not when I'd accepted that he could be happier by Leah's side than mine.

"What do you want? Just leave me alone." He stopped in his tracks, coming to a halt a few feet away from me.

"…what?" That expression was back on his face. He looked so lost – and I couldn't do anything about it. I hated this whole situation. Never before had I found myself caring for what other people felt. If I wanted to do something then I _did_. This was so unknown, there were these feelings thundering around in my chest, and all I wanted to do was take that emotion off his features _but I couldn't_.

"Just… Just…" I couldn't finish my sentence. I felt like I was blubbering. Being stupid.

"What's wrong?" Nothing. Everything. Anything in between. My heart beat erratically in my chest. I needed to kiss him, hug him, be all he'd ever want. I couldn't. I couldn't be what he needed because I was like a forest fire – chaotic and unexpected and overtaking everything you'd ever known. I could never be the safe and secure he sought after.

"Nothing's wrong." I was strong, I couldn't be having this mental breakdown in front of him. Every part of me beat out an unsteady rhythm of ' _stop'_. The tears came anyway. I wasn't enough for him – yet he was still all I wanted.

"No, don't. Please." Not saying anything else, he slammed me to his chest, lifting me off the floor. I buried myself in him until all that existed was Ian. My fears still roared in my head, but in that split second they all grew quiet, becoming hushed tones rather than loud screams. "It's ok. Whatever it is, we can figure it out." Even though I was now happier than I'd been in a while, I still couldn't stop the sob that tore through me.

"I'm strong." I whispered, talking through my tears.

"You are." I would've expected there to be some sarcasm under his words, but I could detect none. Our snarky personalities dropped, what was left behind being two people who truly needed comfort.

"I'm not crying."

"Not sure I can agree as wholeheartedly with that one, but, sure." And this was enough for me to realise how stupid I was being.

Ian may need normal, but he certainly wasn't what society deemed as normal. Once this thought came to be, I suddenly came to terms with what I was doing. It wasn't that I was caring for Ian – although that was certainly a massive part of it – I was _scared_. All those things I'd wanted to do, and had done, were part of my usual repertoire. Althea-things. This wasn't. And all those other times, it wasn't that I'd been fearless, I'd simply been doing me. It was time to step out of this comfort zone of self-pity.

I _could_ be enough for him, and, if he wanted, I would be.

"I'm enough."

"You're more than enough, Ally."

"I've never wanted to be enough for someone else. Why do I suddenly care?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I panicked at his words, not yet ready to admit how I was feeling. So I grabbed tighter onto him, not wanting him to see the expression on my face. What would he see there? Determination? Fear?

"Can I ask you something?" I asked this in his ear, afraid that if I said it any louder my words would become real. When they did there would be no way of going back. I'd stated a moment ago that I wasn't scared anymore – however it would take a whole lot more than simply thinking it for it to be true. I'd never felt this much fear in my body before. Not to mention that the underlying concern for Ian was still very real, and not something I could easily forget. Despite me believing that I could do this, would I end up hurting him in the end? Tears rose again in my eyes. I was pathetic.

"Of course." His breath on my ear practically sent me over the edge, so I bit my lip to remind myself to not kiss the life out of him. I first needed to say what I'd planned to. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself. I was a teenager damn it, I knew all about being reckless. Why was being thoughtless so hard when it came to Ian? Again that thought from yesterday bubbled up – the one that said that perhaps it was because I'd finally found someone worth thinking about.

"Would you… would you want to… Uh, what I'm trying to say is…" A loud laugh stopped me, leaving me ramrod straight. I knew we messed around a lot, and made jokes at each other's expense, but did he find my nervousness so amusing?

"Am I really enough to get the great Althea so hot and bothered?"

"Look, whatever." Feeling cold all over, I struggled in his arms, trying to free myself from his hug. I wanted out of this situation. Maybe staying in my comfort zone of 0 attachments really was the best thing.

"Wait wait no, that's not what I meant! It's just that I've liked you for _months_ now, and I thought you were going to ask me out. I was so happy, I guess I just laughed in relief." I felt a glimmer of hope invade me, yet I pushed it back, unsure whether I should approach this so carelessly. I was sceptical about his statement of liking me. Surely that couldn't be the case. I was going to ask him out in hope that he'd look at me and see someone worth dating. The thought that he'd liked me for so long was incomprehensible to me.

"You like me?"

"Woah hold it, weren't you about to ask me out?" This time it was his turn to pale, as his arms went limp around me. I held on tighter, not knowing what I'd do if we didn't sort this out now. If he truly did want to date me, this could work out. We could do this. After days of worrying that felt endless, we'd come to a point where everything was coming together. I couldn't let it fall apart.

"I was, I was! Stop panicking."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." My mind whirred with wonder, not sure what had even occurred. Had Ian and I somehow come to an agreement?

"Does that mean I can do this then?"

"Do wh-" He stopped me mid-sentence, lowering his mouth to mine. My toes curled in my shoes, my heart exploded in my chest, everything was ok.

Nothing could ever ruin this.

No, Ian hadn't lost his mask forever, and, yes, I was still unsure that I could be what he needed. But for the moment being, we could pretend that people wouldn't judge us, that my parents wouldn't freak when they found out I was dating someone that wasn't my soulfinder, that Leah wouldn't do everything in her power to separate us, that I wasn't insignificant in his family's eyes, that my parents loved me and his hadn't kicked him half-way across the continent. That everything was perfect.

Because nothing could ever ruin this.

 **Hi :)**

 **Who else is squealing right now? Cos they finally got together! Wow, took me a long time to get around to, huh? ;) But the moment is finally here! Although don't be mistaken, there's still plenty of bumps along the road, so don't get too comfortable**

 **And you guys are honestly the best. We passed the target** ** _again_** **and tbh I feel like we're on a role. It makes me so happy :D So, do you think we can get to 55 this chapter?**

 **Bye bye :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Ian's POV:

"Ok babe, I just need to say goodbye to Leah and I'll be right back, k?" She looked up at me through her eyelashes, seeming dazed, and nodded softly. I grinned at the mere thought that this wonderful, witty, beautiful girl was my girlfriend. Not being able to resist, I lowered my mouth to hers, giving her a quick peck just to relish in the fact that I could kiss her whenever I wanted now.

"Alright, see you." Turning on my heel, I walked back to the nurse's. I was still having trouble believing that what had just happened was real. We'd somehow come to an agreement on something, for the first time in our lives. I felt light headed. Nothing could ever ruin this, I thought to myself. And if anything tried to, I'd deck them.

"Hey Leah." I leaned on the door frame, giving her a smooth smile. I had to get down from the clouds before I tried to hold a normal conversation with her, or else my mask would fall. Yet no matter how much I tried, the elated appearance on my face stayed. My cheeks felt sore from smiling.

"Hey Ian, where'd you go?"

"Just to catch up with Ally to make sure she was ok."

"Oh. Right." Not liking the dark expression which covered her features, I pushed off the door, going to stand next to her.

"Listen, I need to go, but if you want me to say, just say the word, ok?"

"No no, it's fine." She looked like it was anything _but_ fine, though gave me a small smile all the same. She probably just wanted to be left alone. I know I would be too, had I been in her position – fainting in front of friends had to be pretty embarrassing. So, nodding, I left. Before I did however, I tossed her a lollipop, which I'd snatched off Althea earlier. She'd kill me for this later, but for now I simply wanted that sad look off Leah's features.

"Here, that's from Althea."

"Wow, did she poison it or something?" A genuine grin lit up her features this time, making my chest feel lighter.

"Let's hope not." Winking, I left the room, feeling slightly better. I hoped she'd get better soon. I hated seeing her so upset. Yet, at the same time, I was still happy to leave, unable to wait any longer to see hazel eyes instead of blue. Leah's eyes were pretty, there was no doubt about it, but she was just like everyone else. Going through the motions of life as if we were all meant to live in shades of grey. While Althea was every colour, in full brightness, all at once.

She was a flash thunder storm, or the fresh smell of grass after it's been mowed. She was a rainbow, or a bright blue summer sky. She was all those things that when you look at them, you're glad to be alive. She was the feeling of caffeine buzzing through your system, or that drowsy tiredness that coats your senses at night. She was alive and real and everything I'd ever imagined when I wished for freedom. I'd been imprisoned in the norms of society for so long that feeling this liberty on my fingertips was the most exhilarating thing I'd ever felt. Althea didn't care what others thought of her – for the first time in my life, I didn't want to either.

"Hey babe." Striding up to her, I grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around in circles. We must've been a sight to see: two teenagers twirling in the middle of an empty hallway, both with the goofiest smiles on their faces.

"I think we're being childish again." She told me, winking.

"Ah, who cares."

"Not me." I went to kiss her, wanting to feel her lips against mine for the umpteenth time that evening, yet she stopped me, placing a finger on my lips. "Nope." The devilish smile, that made my mind go blank, appeared on her lips. I practically groaned in want. Want to kiss her, to hold her, to make her happy? I didn't know. Either way, it didn't matter, because they all started with me kissing the life out of her.

"Why not?" Annoyed, I placed her down on the floor, trying to find a way to get her to budge. Cornering her against the lockers, I gave her my most pleading look, loving the giggle that left her lips. In fact, I loved everything about this situation. Althea and I, being completely carefree, simply playing a game like there wasn't anything else that needed to be done in this world. Just us, having fun and not apologising for wanting to live our lives. I wished this moment could last forever.

"Cos you're going to have to earn it." She smirked at me, driving me half-crazy in the progress. Leaning down, I stared at the delicate curve of her neck. She was denying me access to her lips, but she'd have a much harder time getting me away from here. Kissing her up and down her neck, I noticed her finally give in, grabbing a fistful of my hair to draw me closer to her. As I continued gliding over her soft skin, I felt myself flying away from the rest of the world. All I could see was her black hair, and her pale skin and her wild features, entirely tuned in to me. The smell of sugar surrounded me, spinning in circles until I thought I might just go mad. So going up, I kissed her jaw, making my way to her lips.

"Have I earnt it yet?" My voice was husky, everything coming undone at the thought of Ally. Just her her her, nothing else existing.

"No." Yet she parted her lips, and didn't stop me as I finally connected them, kissing her for all I was worth. I was getting light headed, although I wasn't sure if it was from lack of oxygen, or from being so close to her intoxicating presence. I couldn't breathe, nor think, all I could do was feel. Her skin against mine, our lips moving in sync, everything inside me humming to the tune she sung.

Finally breaking apart, we pressed our foreheads together, breathing heavily. Our breath intermingled, making me continue to be surrounded by that smell of pure sugar. I would've thought I'd get sick of it soon enough, but I felt as if I could breathe it forever and still not have enough.

"Is that what kissing always feels like? Cos damn, I've been missing out."

"No, it isn't." Looking deep into her eyes, I felt myself falling for her all over again. I'd kissed plenty of girls before, and none had ever felt as raw as this did. It was as if all of our feelings were pulsing in the open, driving us forward with a mantra of _don't stop_.

"In that case, I'm glad I waited."

"Wait, these were your first kisses?"

"I thought we'd established that already?" No way she was that much of a good kisser with this being her first time. Swallowing that thought down, I hugged her to me, not being able to believe how well we fit together. As if we were made for one another.

"No, actually, we hadn't."

"Oh well. Now I've gotten my first kiss from a wonderful guy."

"And I've gotten the most amazing kiss from the most amazing girl." She blushed, her whole head becoming red and splodgy. I'd never seen anything cuter in my life. That was certainly not an adjective I thought I'd be directing at Althea at any point in my life. Laughing, I kissed her cheek. I couldn't contain my joy at the fact that I could now do this whenever I wanted.

"In that case, where do you want to go for our most wonderful date, wonder-guy?"

"What would you say to ice skating, wonder-girl?"

"I'd say that's simply marvellous." She drawled, sending me a smirk. This was moving too fast, practically giving me whiplash. I didn't care.

"Jolly good then." Winking at her, I piled on the British accent, looking for that laugh that set my insides on fire. She giggled, it resounding across the corridor. Yet it was only for my ears to hear. Smiling broader than I'd ever done before, I joined our lips, sealing in our happiness with a kiss.

 **Hi :)**

 **Thank you sooo much for all the reviews, they made my week like 10 times better, no jokes. And we got past the target** ** _again_** **which was just like woah, so that was amazing :)**

 **Anyhows, this chapter was just a bit of them coming to terms with their relationship. And I'm not gonna lie, it was amazing to write. I dunno, I just really like Ally and Ian together. They're adorable ^.^**

 **Can we maybe reach 61 reviews this chapter? That'd be ah-mazing**

 **Bye bye xx**


	18. Chapter 18

Ian's POV:

Typing away at my computer, I tried to find the words to finish this stupid English assignment. However my fingers kept freezing over the keyboard – all I could think about was Ally. We'd only been going out for a week, and so far it had been the best week of my life. I'd never felt so free. Without even noticing, a smile had tugged up the corners of my lips.

Ignoring the impending doom of the assignment, I pushed my laptop away, leaning over to grab my phone.

 **Hey Ally**

 **Hey hey. Wuu2?**

 **Trying to do English and failing xD**

 **Welcome to my world.** This wasn't what I'd been hoping to talk about with her, but I'd take it. Anything to get away from this stupid piece of homework. Imagining her lips forming those words was enough to keep me entertained through the small talk.

 **Maybe if you didn't sleep through class it'd be a bit easier to pass?**

 **Pfft, staying awake is for losers**

 **What're you insinuating?**

 **What do you think ;)**

 **I** ** _think_** **you're being a sore loser, cos I've got a higher grade than you in English :P**

 **Oh yeah? Well I have a higher grade than you in maths, so ha!** Thinking of my C, I believed it was incredibly likely that that was the case, yet I still wanted to fight her about it. Somehow this is how we'd become friends, and I still was unwilling to let go of our humble beginnings of fighting over everything.

 **No way**

 **Ok we'll say our grades at the count of 3, k?**

 **Deal**

 **1… 2… 3!**

 **C**

 **A+**

 ** _A+_** **Dude, I'm dating a genius.** Momentarily forgetting that we were arguing, my chest swelled in pride. Maybe when I presented her to my family I could add it to the list of things that made her amazing. 'Hey guys, this is my girlfriend. She's beautiful but also so sexy she drives me up a wall. She has more wit than any person could possibly fit in their head, and she has the ability to make me forget all my inhibitions, to do what _I_ want to for once. Oh, _and_ she has an A+ in maths'. God I was whipped. The worst part was that I didn't mind one bit.

 **Then again I'm getting an F in English so…**

 **Hey, it's F for Fantastic ;)**

 **You're such an idiot.** I went to reply when a skype call from my computer interrupted me. Seeing it was mum, I said goodbye to Ally. Straightening out my clothes I prepared myself for my demise. This call was long coming, seeing how we hadn't talked in more than a week, yet I'd convinced myself that it would all be alright. Hearing the call tune, I wasn't so sure anymore.

"Hey honey!" She greeted me the second I clicked 'accept', the sight of my brothers and my parents trying to stuff themselves in the screen being my reception. I hid a chuckle behind a cough.

"Hey guys."

"How've you been? Not missing us too much, I hope."

"Well I've missed you, but not to the point where it's unbearable." I refrained from telling them that I'd been so entranced with Althea that I'd forgotten all about them.

"And… the soulfinder hunt?"

"Actually, I sort of wanted to talk to you guys about that." I bit my tongue to stop the fear that I felt coursing through me from invading my features. I couldn't let them see how much of a big deal this was. Maybe if I played it off enough they'd pretend it was merely a phase.

"Oh?" Dad spoke this time, raising both his eyebrows at me. More adrenalin pulsed through me. Oh how I wished I could go back to five minutes ago, when I'd been talking about how F stood for fantastic and not fail.

"I've given up on the search."

" _What_." Everyone in the room spoke at once, forcing me to turn down the volume with a grimace. I knew they'd react like this – after all the only reason I'd come to Colorado in the first place was to find her – but it still shocked me. They weren't letting me get a word in sideways, and I only needed a few seconds to explain to them that I'd found something much much better,.

"Guys, please! Just let me explain."

"What is there to explain Ian? We let you transfer schools for this, and now you're telling us you're giving it up?" Dad was getting angrier, I'd never seen him get this annoyed. I knew it was because he cared for me, and he wanted me to be as happy as he was with mum. It still hurt. It was more pressure on me, which society was doing a well enough job of, already.

"It isn't that simple."

"Well then make it simple Ian, because you have 5 minutes to convince me not to get a flight over there right now and force you to find this girl."

"I found someone better. I'm pretty sure she isn't a savant but… God. She makes my heart race, and she's made me happier than I've ever been. It's like whenever I see her nothing else matters. So when she asked me out, I forgot all about the stupid mission I was here on."

"Ian…" Mum closed her eyes tightly, pinching the bridge of her nose. She wasn't as mad as dad, yet she looked exasperated, like she herself was about to get a flight here too, to knock some sense into me. I swallowed loudly, not prepared for what she was about to hit me with. Why couldn't they understand that I was happy with Ally? "I know you feel this way now, but you're a teenager, and there's hormones flying around. Once you meet her, you'll know that she was the only one for you. You just need to give it time, instead of rushing to the first girl you meet."

"Mum you don't get it. I haven't just picked the first girl. I've dated others before, and none, absolutely _none_ , have made me feel the way she does. She makes the world melt away."

"Ok, that's it. You have two weeks to sort it all out. Xav and I are going to buy plane tickets for then. By the time we land in Colorado you better have found your soulfinder, or else we'll find her for you. We're sorry Ian, but we can't just let you throw away this opportunity to meet her because of a teenage crush."

"But-"

"Sorry." With that, she hung up, leaving me staring wide-eyed at the screen. Tears prickled in my eyes, frustrating me with their presence. I wasn't about to cry over my parents getting cross at me, I wasn't 5, damn it. Taking in a choked breath, a grabbed for my phone, needing to talk to Ally. To remind myself that she was still there, at least for two more weeks. Seeing the message she sent me after I said goodbye, I felt my heart drop.

 **Alright, bye bye xx** Plenty of girls before had sent me 'x's after messaging me, this wasn't anything new. Regardless it made my heart thunder in my chest. And that was all it took for me to decide.

I was going to have the best two weeks of my life, consequences be damned. After that I'd go back to being Ian the jock, Ian the ideal son, Ian the boy with a 'promising future'. The Ian everyone else wanted to see. Until then I'd enjoy every single second of this limited freedom.

 **Back. Wanna meet up?** Not being able to help myself, I quickly typed out a message. I wanted to spend all the time I could with Ally. Sure, we'd only been dating for a week, but our relationship had been moving pretty fast. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I was a bit clingier. At least I hoped not. She _had_ to feel the attraction I felt towards her. That incessant pull at my heart which constantly reminded me that there was a girl out there who was all I could've ever imagined.

 **Hm… I don't know, how much would you be willing to pay me? ;)**

 **How about 3 kisses?**

 **You're gonna have to up your game babe**

 **10?**

 **I'm talking candy here**

 ***Gasp* Are you saying candy is better than my kisses?**

 **That's** ** _exactly_** **what I'm saying**

 **Ok, so how about cotton candy** ** _and_** **10 kisses?**

 **Gosh, you sure know how to get the ladies ;)** Smiling, I grabbed my car keys off my desk, striding to the door. My conversation with my parents was all but forgotten, happiness flitting within me. What I'd said before was completely true: Althea made the rest of the world fall away.

 **Hi :)**

 **Did you really think I was gonna let them have their happily ever after so soon? Muahaha, I'm evil xD I know this seems like a bit of an off reaction from Crystal and Xav, but I can sorta imagine that if I spent loads of money on a plane ticket and transferring Ian's school, I'd be pretty pissed too. Unfortunately for them xD**

 **Oh my gosh guys, I got a fuckton of reviews last chapter again, and my cheeks honestly hurt from smiling so much. Which is really saying something, considering I'm doing finals. But yeah, so do you guys think we can get to 69 (*giggle*) this chapter? I'll give you an uber special date if we do! :D**

 **Bye bye xx**


	19. Chapter 19

Althea's POV:

Munching on my cotton candy happily, I glanced over to Ian, seeing him already looking at me. Blushing, I looked back down at my sweets.

"Did you just blush? Wow."

"Hey, don't make fun of me." Bumping my shoulder against his, I made him falter in his steps. I laughed, my embarrassment being forgotten. Being completely honest I was unsure why I'd even felt it in the first place. Ian was making a lot of things happen to me – some which I wasn't sure if I liked. The rest… well, I liked those a bit too much.

"But it's funny."

"You know what would be even better?"

"What?"

"Me _not_ killing you tonight."

"Hm... that does sound pretty good actually." He punctuated his words with a wink, making blood rush to my cheeks again. God damn it, if this didn't stop soon I'd kill Ian. Looking at his cute grin and sparkling eyes, I again felt my embarrassment waning. Truth be told, I didn't think I'd ever be able to break up with him. Not whilst there were so many butterflies in my stomach at least.

"I think so too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. Cos it means I can kiss you more." Without wasting time, he grabbed me by the waist, smashing our lips together, dissolving all the tension I'd felt inside of me since we'd met up. I'd been nervous, the fact that this was our first date not helping to calm me down. Had it been any other situation I would've been able to deal with it fine. Yet Ian was here, and he was what my heart ached for – I couldn't allow myself to screw this up.

"God, I'll never get tired of doing that." Panting for breath, with my heart thumping out joy with ever beat, I couldn't help but agree.

"Then you might not want to piss me off too much."

"Aw babe, that's foul play, you know how much I like annoying you." I scoffed at this, patting him and ruffling his hair in the process. He glared at me under the hair I'd pushed into his face.

"Poor baby." Kissing his cheek, I got out of his hold. My nerves still felt like they were going haywire, but I was dealing a lot better than a few minutes ago, much more able to pretend to be confident again. Quickly marching up to the girl in charge of the ice skates, I asked for ones my size. Arms went around me, Ian's presence becoming plainly apparent. I smiled, turning my head to nuzzle my nose into his neck. "Mm. This is gonna be fun."

"Do you know how to ice skate?" _No._

"Yeah." How hard could it be, really?

"I'm guessing you didn't ask for my skates?" Laughing, I kissed his neck, twisting out of his arms to take my shoes off. Winking at him, I let another giggle escape me.

"Take a wild guess."

"You didn't, did you?"

"Wow, how did you know?" I opened my eyes wide, making my surprised look appear overly shocked. He simply shook his head at me, flicking me on the forehead, before ordering them himself.

"You're the devil, you know that?"

"But I'm a cute devil." As I got up from taking off my converse and putting on the skates, Ian wasted no time. He kissed me on the cheek, where a blush was beginning to spread again from his ministrations. I wanted hate him for it, but I was becoming used to the cumbersome embarrassment, and, if I had to be honest with myself, I loved how he could have this effect on me. No one else did.

"Damn straight." A cough behind us broke us out of our reverie, the girl standing behind the counter looking annoyed. Bored eyes swept over our entangled forms as she placed Ian's ice skates on the counter. She still appeared like she hadn't seen anything exciting in month, yet a corner of her mouth pulled up in amusement.

"First date?"

"Yeah." Answered Ian, as he took out his wallet to pay. I went to stop him, not liking how he simply assumed he'd be the one paying the expense of this date. "No Ally, I'll take this one."

"Only if I pay the next." He snorted, but nodded anyway, sending a flurry of rage coursing through me. Ian made me feel a range of very intense emotions, that was for sure. "I heard that. I'll be paying, whether you like it or not." The girl eyed us curiously, but didn't say anything. All she did was allow that stupid smirk to pull up the commissure of her lip up, again.

"Are we really gonna argue about this?"

"Ian, don't you know already? Arguing is what we do best." And with that I dragged him over to the rink. A smile lit up my features, as I gave him the most reassuring look I could. I wasn't sure how well I achieved it. Although I knew it was somewhat effective, if his reaction to it at the nurse's office was any indication. He'd calmed down quite a bit, so I thought it might be worth a shot. "Oh come on, we can't just stay away from arguments, then they'll just blow up in our face. We need to face them head on, like a man."

"You're not a man babe." The worry left his features, allowing me to relax too. I'd been scared shitless of screwing this up not ten minutes ago, which made me quite hypocritical for wanting Ian to calm down. He'd just feared screwing up our delicate relationship, which I'd been too. But I was Althea, and I wasn't placed on this Earth to worry, much the contrary in fact. So I took the lead, shooting off into the ice.

"I'm well aware of that fact, yes."

"I… uh… yeah, me too." His eyes lowered before ricocheting back up, his face reddening. I couldn't stop the giggle that escaped at his discomfited face.

"You crack me up. Now come on, you gonna join me or what?" I pretended that I wasn't holding onto the banister for dear life, beckoning him over. Trying to strive for nonchalance, I cocked a hip against the barrier, sending him a sure smile. Maybe I'd be able to pull this off.

However it became plainly obvious that this wouldn't be the case, when Ian went straight off to the middle of the rink. I'd hoped we'd stay near my support for a while longer, but he was already at least 10 feet away. I felt blood drain from my face. I should've thought about this instead of simply going for it like a madwoman. But I was much too proud to back down from this now.

"Ian, wait up." With that, I launched myself off the wall, hoping with everything inside me that this would somehow go well. Skidding on the ice, my balance teetered, everything going off-centre for a few seconds. Finally regaining my composure, I went to stand up straight, but that was my demise. My centre of mass shifted, sending me hurtling backward onto the cold ground. Trying to fight off my impending doom, I twisted my legs. This only helped them to tangle further, making the ice rush closer and closer to me. I heard a crack as I landed, immensurable pain shooting through my arm.

"Ally! Are you okay?" Ian easily skated up to me, offering me a hand up with an amused smirk on his lips. I glared at him from my spot on the floor, attempting to push myself up without his help. It seemed to be a bad idea though, as pain laced its way all the way from my forearm to my fingertips. Gritting my teeth, I tried to stop any sounds of agony from escaping me. This led to a soft whimper being formed, as I clenched my jaw even harder to stop it in its tracks.

"Can you… help me up?"

"Are you actually asking for help? I need to get this on camera."

"Stop being a dick and help me." By this point, my face had reddened from holding in my sobs, and the pain in my arm had increased tenfold. When Ian offered me a hand up again it felt like I'd seen an oasis after years of travelling through the desert. Clutching it with my good hand, I pulled myself off the ground, holding my other arm as close to me as possible. Now all I needed to do was get back to the barrier and wait for the pain to pass.

However this, as it turned out, was an impossibility – I'd slid all the way to the centre of the rink with my little stunt. Escape wasn't going to be happening any time soon. Tears prickled in my eyes, but I swallowed them down, remembering my thoughts from before. I didn't want to ruin this, especially not for something as silly as a little pain in my arm.

"Hey, Ian?" My voice sounded weak, and my knees were buckling under my weight. The slippery ice of hell wasn't helping me any either, simply making me lose my balance every few seconds.

"What's wrong baby?" I'd never heard him sound more caring in my life, so I looked over at him in shock. Seeing him staring at me with concern written all over his features, I realised how stupid I was being. I had more pride than I did anything else, but I was pretty sure my arm was broken. What was I even thinking? This pain wasn't about to go away, I'd never felt anything like it.

"Get me off the ice, please." My pleading tone did its job, Ian quickly scooping me into his arms without a second thought. As we got to the bleachers surrounding the rink, he sat me down carefully, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. At my pale, sweaty face he became even more worried, giving me a look up and down in search of what had hurt me. Little did he know, he'd looked right past it.

"Talk to me, what happened? Is it that same thing from a few nights ago?" I shook my head at this, but even that simple action caused my arm hurt like a bitch. Hissing, I stuck it even closer to my body, hoping to make the ache lessen somehow. "What is it?"

"M- my arm." And finally I allowed myself to let a few tears run down my cheeks, the pain becoming unbearable. "I think it's broken." Looking at me with pure utter concern written across every crease in his face, he wiped my tears away, kissing my forehead as softly as he could.

"I'm calling my dad."

"No, you don't have to, I know you don't get along too well with him." He'd let slip a couple of times how his dad didn't understand him, so I didn't want him to be put through that just for me. Especially considering this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been so stupid. Had I just admitted that I didn't know how to skate this whole situation would've been avoided.

"Hey dad." He started talking before I could stop him. He was pale, a frown forming as he talked. "Yes she's broken her arm and-" Stopping to listen to something, he grimaced, but then grew angry, barking back into the phone. "Who cares who she is? Her arm is _broken_ and I need to know what to do." Another pause. "Mhm, ok, I'll do that." He hung up, sending me a reassuring smile. "Dad says there isn't much we can do, so we just need to get you to the hospital as soon as possible. Also, before we go, he said to check whether it's actually broken or not, cos he doesn't want us taking up space in the ER for a sprain."

"It isn't a sprain." I assured him, having experienced a few of those throughout my life. They'd never been this bad.

"Better safe than sorry. Show me your arm?" I tried lifting it, but soon gave up, the pain too hard to bear. "Ok that's it, I don't care, I'm taking you straight there." Not allowing me to say another word, he picked me off the bleachers, carrying me bridal style towards the door.

"I still have my skates on."

"Fuck the skates."

"And… I'm sorry for ruining our first date."

"Fuck that too. You could've convinced me to throw myself off a cliff and it still wouldn't be ruined. Wanna know why? Because just as long as I'm with you I couldn't give a rat's ass what we're doing."

"You know, it's sort of funny. That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me, and yet it included the words 'rat's ass.'"

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok so this was just a lot of cuteness with a little bit of 'oh my god did she actually...** ** _no_** **' stuck in the middle xD I hope you guys liked it, although don't worry, they'll have a proper date soon, with no accidents or broken bones getting in the way.**

 **We passed the target** ** _again_** **! Tbh I don't even know what to say to thank you guys anymore, cos I've run out of ways to show you that every time I get a review I do a happy dance xD You all deserve lots and lots of cookies, and chocolate!**

 **Can we get to 75 this chapter? I'd love that soooo much :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	20. Chapter 20

Althea's POV:

"Ok miss, what colour would you like for your cast?" Bored, I stared out the window, locking gazes with Ian who stood just outside. I wished he was in here so we could make fun of the nurse, or of each other, or _something_. Instead of standing here in an empty room going through procedures. I wanted to bang my head against a wall. "Miss?"

"Black." I answered, not looking away from Ian. If I concentrated hard enough I could almost pretend there wasn't glass separating us. I could also imagine that my parents weren't just behind him, glaring daggers at me from their chairs. They'd tell me off for this later, saying that it was unseemly for a young girl, such as myself, to get her arm broken for being too prideful. I'd then tell them to go suck it, because I didn't care what was seemly and what wasn't. And after that I'd be grounded for two weeks. That would be that.

"Ok. Let me just start wrapping this up then…" She began, forcing me to look away from what was going on outside. Which gave my parents just enough time to corner Ian into a conversation. When my gaze travelled back up again, and I saw what they were doing, it was my turn to glare.

 _Stay away from him._

 _Who is he?_

 _He's no one. Now_ _ **stay**_ _away from him._ They didn't listen, simply continuing on. Ian started shifting on his feet, seeming incredibly uncomfortable. If I could I'd yank my parents back. But suddenly his whole demeanour changed. His grimace turned into a full-blown smile, and he pushed his shoulders back, looking confident and at ease. I'd seen this transformation myself many times, yet it hit me just as hard every time. It reminded me that Ian strived for a personality that was the complete opposite of mine – surely that meant that he also wanted to date someone who was the opposite of me.

I'd been stuck in this train of thought all too many times, especially before we'd started dating. I'd hoped that, once we did, that underlying feeling of not being what he'd want would disappear. It never did.

"Ok, that's done. Once you're ready to go head over to reception and ask for an appointment in a few weeks' time. Then we'll see how the bone is healing." She left the room soon after saying this, making me roll my eyes. Her voice was monotone, and I was convinced she hadn't shown emotion in 5 years. Groaning, I lay back on the bed.

"Darling I hope you know your father and I are very disappointed." Mum and dad marched in straight away, not wasting any time to tell me off.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Ian came in too, looking curious and slightly worried about the scene unfolding in front of him. I motioned him over, getting him to sit next to me on the bed.

"I _cannot_ believe you told this poor boy that you knew how to ice skate. We all know you very much cannot. And now look at all the trouble you've caused for him!"

"It's really no trouble at all ma'am." Ian tried to intercede, but she paid him no heed. What a surprise there. I rolled my eyes at their actions, holding his hand and giving it a tight squeeze in form of reassurance.

"When you get back home you're grounded for two weeks young lady."

"Ok, once again, whatever. Just leave. I need an appointment with one of the doctors, so go do that.." Huffing, she left, my dad in tow. When they did, Ian made eye contact with me, his facial features screaming 'what the hell did I just watch'. Also some underlying fear for some reason, which I didn't comprehend. Deciding not to question it, I went with the next topic at hand. "No telling anyone at school that I broke my arm for being an idiot."

"Babe I don't think they'll need to be told. Everyone already knows you're a dork." I stuck my tongue out at him, although he didn't seem very affected, just ruffling my hair in response. "How you feeling?"

"A bit woozy from the painkillers but, you know, getting there."

"I'm glad." His smile was genuine as he kissed me lightly, careful not to hurt my arm. Nothing like that fake, dazzling smile he'd shown my parents outside, this one was lopsided and crooked. But absolutely perfect. "Want me to drive you home?"

"Yeah, thanks. I don't think my parents would be particularly glad to take me."

"They sounded really annoyed, considering you just broke your arm."

"They're always like that, it's just a case of learning to ignore them. How are things going with your dad by the way?" At my words he grimaced, that same look of fear from before resurfacing. Worried, I touched his cheek, not liking how his whole face darkened. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. It's just that we had a massive argument. They're flying down here in a couple of weeks."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And there's nothing I can do. That's why I was going to ask if your parents are going to stick to the two weeks grounding thing. I'd like to enjoy as much time with you as possible before then."

"Don't worry about me, I'll get away with leaving the house and everything. It's just more of a formality than anything else. But… Ian, what's going to happen when they fly in?" He looked away, avoiding my eyes as he fiddled with his fingers.

"Never mind that. Ready to go?"

"What aren't you telling me?" I grabbed his arm before he could jump off the bed, sending him a stern look. I didn't like people lying to me, and Ian was keeping a very big truth all to himself. From the looks of it, it had to do with me.

"Can we talk about this tomorrow? It's late and I'm tired."

" _You're_ tired. O-kaaay." Getting off the bed myself, I let him hug me to his side as we walked through the white corridors of the hospital. I was still annoyed that he wasn't telling me something, but he was right, it had been a tiring day. I was normally filled up to the brim with unkempt energy, yet now I was sagging against him.

"Well, hey, it's been a long day for all of us."

"Alright fine. But you've got to tell me tomorrow." His eyes shifted again, much like they'd done when he'd lied to me the first time. It was visible in all of his actions – he wasn't going to promise anything.

"I promise." Liar.

Sighing, I shook my head. It wasn't worth the struggle right now, especially with how exhausted I was. So I allowed him to cart me off into his car without another word, silence hanging heavily between us. However, all it took was him kissing my forehead for it to be dissolved into a tranquil stillness. I didn't mind it anymore. Nor that he'd lied through his teeth. Nor did I care about much of anything. Those painkillers must finally be working. And the last thing I heard before I drifted off into a peaceful slumber were Ian's words.

"Sweet dreams."

 **Hi :)**

 **So a little bit more on Althea's relationship with her parents, which as you've probably all been able to guess by now is pretty shitty. But don't worry, it'll get better :)**

 **We didn't reach the target but that's ok, there were still loads of reviews, all which I loved :) Can we get to 78 this chapter? I can't believe how many we've gotten ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	21. Chapter 21

Ian's POV:

"Ok ok, what about this one?" I showed Ally a battered cover of 'Dracula', making her scrunch her nose in distaste. We were sprawled out in my bedroom, going through my bookshelf in search of a book she could use to write her book report. I'd finished mine last week, and it was due in tomorrow, so she was a bit screwed. But I'd convinced her to at least try to put something together.

"Ew, isn't that about a gross vampire or something?"

"Ok, no vampire stories. I guess that discards Twilight." I winked at her, making her scowl in return.

"If you even get that book close to me I'll throw it at your head."

"Good to know. And this?" An old copy of '1984' made her look even more disgusted.

"How _old_ is that thing?"

"I dunno, my uncle Yves got it for me."

"Yeah, I'm not reading that." Flipping through the pages, you could see her becoming appalled at the small font and yellowed pages. "Any other books?"

"We've gone through _every_ book here."

"Well it isn't my fault you have an awful taste in books." I rolled on my stomach to glare at her, while she just shot me her devilish grin. Immediately my anger ebbed away, giving way to a want to kiss that sexy smirk off her features. But I held it back, not willing to let her win.

"Oh yeah?" I got closer to her, preparing my attack.

"Hell yeah." Pouncing on her, I pinned her wrists above her head, being careful with her arm. I had to admit I didn't particularly like the cast being there, simply because it was a glaring reminder that she'd hurt herself and I'd done nothing to help her. Hell, for a few minutes I'd even made fun of her for asking for help.

"Will you still think the same once I start tickling you?"

"No no no, not the tickling, please!" She squirmed under me, laughter resounding throughout the room as we fought, rolling around the floor. I was at a disadvantage, trying to be careful I wouldn't hurt her arm, but I didn't mind it much. The triumphant look on Althea's face as she manage to hold me down was priceless. Especially considering the compromising position we were now in, with her straddling me. I smirked, unable to help myself. "Now admit that I'm the bestest."

"That's not a word babe."

" _Admit it_." She pouted at me, sending my heart beating wildly in my chest. The effect this girl had on me, it was crazy. Whenever she glanced my way I felt happy, simply from being in her line of sight. And when she got close to me she made the rest of the world fall away, nothing mattering apart from her. Her hazel eyes, her laughter, her smile, the look she gave me when she was annoyed but still somehow endeared by my actions. All becoming more important than anything else.

"Only if I get a kiss."

"Alright fine." Leaning down, she got our lips as close as she could without letting them actually touch. Struggling under her, I tried to get them to join. If I'd wanted to I could've pushed her off, but this was much more enjoyable. Her eyes glinted mischievously as she watched me 'trying' to get closer.

"Babe we had a deal."

"Uh huh." She quickly turned her head, making me kiss her cheek instead of the lips I was trying to get to. By this point I'd been properly making an effort, the pout on her lips too irresistible. "And yet you never specified which type of kiss."

"You're seriously evil."

"Aw, don't be liked that, you know you love me."

"Well, I'm certainly loving this position." My words caused her to look down, appearing almost shocked at the situation she found us in. A chuckle escaped my lips, my attempt to cover it up futile, the expression on her face being too humorous.

"How did we even get here? We were talking about _books_."

"Yeah but I'm enjoying this conversation a lot more." I smiled at her, getting up to go sit with my back against a wall. I motioned she should join me, but she was off to la-la-land, looking at me with those empty eyes. It honestly scared me when she did this sometimes, particularly that time in the meadow, when she'd been so out of it I'd feared we needed to go to hospital. Shuddering in a scared breath, I approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her. I then bundled her into my arms, my warrior princess and spitfire becoming no less than an empty shell of a human being.

Althea's POV:

"Yeah, but I'm enjoying this conversation a lot more." Said Ian, smiling from underneath me. I went to smile back, but became frozen in place as things started swirling behind him. His books started tinting pink, the colour of love, but this wasn't what startled me – that part was just routine, just my gift. No, it was the pink dust swirling through the air, clouding around me and threatening to leave me without air.

Looking away to try to stop it from forming, my eyes landed on the wall, pristine white plaster glaring back at me. Too bright. Much too bright. Bringing my hands over my eyes, I tried to block out all the colours, coming at me at full intensity. I'd rather go back to the pink dust. Whimpering, I shrunk back, wishing it would go away once and for all.

"It's ok, I'm here. It's ok." Lips on my forehead startled me out of the nightmare, as I resurfaced with gasping breaths.

"Ian?"

"Oh god, you scared the crap out of me Ally." Laying my head on his shoulder, I mumbled an apology of some sort, waiting for both of us to calm down. I didn't know what had been happening to me lately. Daydreams were one thing, but this was like they'd combined with some demonic version of my gift and had made this horrible nightmare. So, horrified of what was happening to me, and with fear in my chest that I was going insane, I allowed the afternoon to slowly pass in Ian's arms. After what must've been hours, I finally spoke up.

"What's happening to me?" My voice broke, it sounding weak. I hated this whole situation.

"I don't know babe, I just… don't."

"I'm scared." Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have said anything, instead simply swallowing it down. But Ian had seen me go through two of these meltdowns already, and for some reason all of my pride was crumbling down. Leaving only me, with no idea as to how to pretend that everything was ok. I was Althea, and I didn't get scared. I was though. I'd never been so scared in my life.

"It'll be ok. We'll figure this out somehow." He looked honest, looking at me with his eyes opened wide in fear. I swallowed hard, this whole thing taking a toll on me.

"I hope so."

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry for the angsty chapter, but as you can see this problem of Althea's is gonna be making an appearance quite a bit. Can you guess what the problem is? Tbh I've sort of been making it up on the spot, but I think I have a clear idea of what I want to do with it now ^.^**

 **And I absolutely loved all your reviews last chapter, they were so lovely. Also, thanks to Guest for the constructive criticism, I've taken it on board :) And to the other guest, don't worry, the soulfinder bit will be making an appearance in... two chapters I think it is? 2 or 3, but soon!**

 **Can we get to 83 reviews? That'd be super!**

 **Bye bye xx**


	22. Chapter 22

Althea's POV:

"Should we really be here? I mean your arm-" Ian started speaking, but I shut him up by putting my index finger over his mouth. Giggling as he kissed it, I continued my way down the busy road.

"Stop complaining, I could use a little fun. And anyway, our first date was ruined, so I wanted to have another one."

"I happen to think that we had plenty of fun watching crappy soap operas at the hospital."

"Yes, but is it really more fun than a _theme park_?" I practically jumped in excitement, not being able to contain myself. I'd been nervous for our first date, but this was our second date, which meant I could enjoy this to its full potential. And I loved theme parks. There was just so much happiness buzzing in the air, no one trying to be better than anyone else, everyone simply plastering smiles full of joy on their faces. I allowed myself to be swept by the mood of the crowd.

"But your arm-" This time I hushed him by kissing him, smirking as he stared at me in wonder.

"Shh, and enjoy it."

"I might just keep talking, if it gets me kisses."

"Next time you'll get a little more than a kiss." His eyes widened, as he took hold of my hips, pressing me as close to him as he could. The rides around us and the screaming children all disappeared, Ian taking up my full view. I almost forgot I'd been teasing him.

"Oh, will I now?"

"Mhm." Leaning close, I kissed up his neck. My mouth got close to his ear, making him shiver underneath me. My smile grew wider. "I'll have to…" More kisses were in order, as I continued to drive him mad. This was so much fun, although I had to admit I was getting a little bit too into it. "Punch you." Pulling back, practically having to force myself to do it, I stared at Ian's annoyed face. I winked, snickering.

"Wow, you've reached a whole new level of tease."

"Have I?" I asked, fluttering my eyelashes to strive for an innocent look. He growled in frustration, making a subconscious smile tug up the corners of my lips. I pushed them down, not wanting it to ruin the look.

"Babe, you're driving me insane."

"Kinda what I was going for." Kissing him chastely, I grabbed his arm, dragging him to the first ride. "Now come on, let's have the time of our lives!"

"Ooh ooh, Ian I wanna go on that one!" Jumping up and down, I gave him the widest smile that had ever graced my features. My finger rose up, excitedly pointing at the ride which stood high above the rest. I could feel the candy in my stomach turning at the mere thought of going on. It was _perfect._

"Alright, let's do it." He chuckled, taking my hand as we walked over to it. Well, he walked, I skipped, like a child high on candy. Which I was. I couldn't help myself from leaning over, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. I wasn't sure why I did it, I just felt so much happiness within me, and I wasn't one to deny myself anything. "What was that for?"

"Can't I kiss my wonderful boyfriend whenever I want?" At my words, he shot me a smile, a look of elation covering his features.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"I'm just the best at convincing people."

"Ha, ok, and that's why you're failing English?" I hit him for his smartass comment, but couldn't take the grin off my face, even with some annoyance within me.

"Dick."

"Idiot."

"Smartass."

"Dork."

"Cute."

"Beautiful."

"Kind."

"Witty."

"Wonderful."

"Sweet."

"Ok now you're just lying." We'd gotten closer as we talked, subconsciously, so now we were entangled in each other's arms, the ride long forgotten. I didn't care. I could spend the rest of forever buried here in his embrace, as cheesy as that sounded.

"I'm not. You have a sweet smile, a sweet personality, and, believe it or not, your food taste is also pretty sweet." He winked at me, making me giggle like a teenage girl with a stupid crush. Which I supposed I now was. That came as a bit of a surprise.

"But… Don't you want to date someone who's normal? Isn't that what you've always wanted to get to?" I couldn't believe I was asking this, I was just running my mouth. Like always. Why couldn't I shut up for 5 seconds? We were having a lovely time, and now Ian looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"How do you know about me wanting to be normal?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious."

"So you're saying I don't want this? That it's wrong?"

"I don't know! I don't _want_ it to be wrong, but this has been screwing me over all week. I need to know whether I'm what you want, or if I'm just a replacement until you find a normal girl who can follow the rules and help you lead a normal life."

"Are you even listening to yourself? This isn't the Ally I know. She'd never even let the words 'I don't want this' come out of my mouth. What's going on?" I kept my stoic expression, not wanting him to see through the cracks.

"I just want to know. Please tell me whether I'm what you want." Trying to keep my composure was hard enough by this point, but it became nearly impossible when Ian leaned down into my ear. I took in a startled breath, my façade falling momentarily. I was strong, I couldn't let it look like this was affecting me.

"If wanting you is wrong, then I don't want to be right." Finally everything cracking around me, I jumped at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his shoulders.

"You know I would've killed you if you'd said anything else." We both know it wasn't true, but he nodded anyway, chuckling.

"Glad to have you back babe." He then looked up, staring at me intently with those penetrating eyes of his. I gulped, not liking how it felt as if he was looking into my soul. I didn't have any secrets to hide, I mean most of the time I spoke what was on my mind. But there was one massive secret I'd kept from absolutely everyone. I wasn't strong. "What happened to make you think those things?"

"I'm confident in who I am Ian, but I'm also aware that I'm not normal. And I've watched you parade around with that mask of yours on, being the popular jock everyone wants you to be. That'll all disappear if you start dating me. I'm going to come into your life and destroy that silly pretence of yours. You'll be left behind, confused and alone and not knowing how to act in a world where you're no longer 'normal'."

"What if I said I don't _want_ to be normal anymore?" A smile overtook my features, as I peppered his face with kisses. Those had been the words I'd been waiting to hear for much too long. My heart beat rapidly in my chest, relief washing over me like the tide. I'd been pushing all of this away for two weeks now, since I'd started liking Ian – but it was all over now. I'd finally found out how he felt. He'd given me full permission to do what I was born to do.

"Then you came to the right person." I was going to break Ian free of the shackles of society before he could even say 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'.

 **Hi :) [btw ignore the random line there, it won't disappear O.o ]**

 **I'm the fluff fairy, and I bring you an overly fluffed up chapter ;) There's gonna be a lot of shit going down in the next few chapters so I reckoned you guys deserved it :)**

 **Your reviews were great last chapter, thank you so much, as always :) And to the guest who wants longer chapters, worry not, next chapter will be a super-duper long one, promise! Can we get to 86 reviews? I'd love that ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	23. Chapter 23

Ian's POV:

I followed Althea without even knowing what I was doing. When she'd seen my ashen face she'd dragged me away from school, saying that skipping was in order. I wasn't thinking about anything at all. My brain was a massive mess, all the things that were going wrong thundering together in this cacophony of _no no no_. I'd just seen a message from mum, which simply said:

 **We've got the plane tickets, see you in 8 days X**

I was glad Ally had enough courage for both of us, so when we marched out of the school doors, and after to the fence, I didn't doubt it once. Her tight hold on my hand was enough to persuade me to just follow her actions.

She threw our bags over the chain link fence, with me following the movement of them in silence. Not paying me any heed she grabbed onto the fence, hauling herself up onto the highest point. Even in my dazed state, I felt my eyebrows rise up in amazement, the thought 'my girlfriend kicks _ass_ ' flitting momentarily in my brain.

"Come on babe, we don't have all day." She motioned for me to follow her, then jumped to the other side of the fence, landing on the balls of her feet. Turning around to find me staring, she winked. "I know, I know, I'm amazing at everything. But seriously, a teacher might come along." Her comment made me laugh, and it took me a moment to realise that she'd broken me out of my stupor of 'get me out of here' and 'why is everything going wrong?'. Not wanting to ponder on that too much – in case I fell right back in – I launched myself at the fence.

"How, did you-" A grunt left my mouth in effort. "Make this look so… Ugh… Easy." I threaded my fingers through the squares in the fence, but it hurt when I applied pressure. I tried to find a grip with my feet – they simply slipped straight back to the ground. I wanted to blame it on her being lighter and smaller, but in reality I probably had it easier, considering I could reach higher.

"That's cos it _is_ easy." Smirking at me, she placed her hands over mine, that were still gripping the fence even though I was firmly on the ground. It made me feel like we were star-crossed lovers, on opposite sides of the fence. I saw Ally's eyes slightly glaze over, she was probably having the same thought. I smiled, liking the idea that our thoughts were coordinated, a lot more than I should.

"Alright, time for attempt number two." Before I started struggling, she leaned her forehead on the fence, giving me a grin.

"I believe in you babe." Winking, she backed off. Then she made me possibly the most embarrassed person in the world, by making weird hand gestures, while shouting at the top of her lungs. "Give me an I! Give me an A! Give me an N! Iiiiaaaaan!"

"What happened to a teacher might come?"

"Ah, fuck it." She repeated the chant again, making me incapable of trying to climb the fence, I was laughing too hard. Clutching my stomach, I tried to glare, but I could feel my eyes softening. I wished I could spend the rest of eternity in this moment, laughing so hard that tears were leaking out of my eyes, and being in the company of the person who makes me the happiest I've ever been. Suddenly, it all broke, as she stretched her arms above her head, looking like she was about to do a cartwheel to follow with her cheerleader act. My heart practically beat out of my chest. I screamed at her, slamming my body against the chain-link fence.

"Your arm!" The sound left my mouth in a guttural cry, the fence creaking and bending under my weight. Ally, hearing me just in time, retracted her arms. Though she'd already put momentum into it, which sent her hurtling forward, head-first into the ground. The fear coursing through me was enough to get me to get my shit together, as I climbed the fence as fast as humanly possible. It was sloppy, I landed on the other side on my knees. It didn't matter. I needed to make sure she was alright. "Are you ok?!"

The only response I got was low grumbling, which I took to mean that she was fine. Pissed, but fine. Running over to her, I picked her up, scanning her for any injuries. Apart from some scratches on her face she looked ok – that wasn't enough to get my heart to calm down.

"What were you thinking?! Your. Arm. Is. Broken." All my fear turned into straight up anger, as I tried to refrain from shaking her. I knew that she normally did things because she wanted to, without thinking much about the repercussions, yet this was a whole new level of careless. She stared at me, her hazel eyes becoming big with an innocence that would be my downfall. I couldn't stop my anger from wavering, just because of the expression on her face.

"I just- you were laughing, and I wanted you to laugh more! So I thought: what do cheerleaders do? Cool tricks, obviously. The only trick I knew how to do was a cartwheel, and-" I shut her up by sweeping her up and off the ground, smashing her into my chest. She looked honestly panicked, shocking me. Rendering me useless. I took in a deep breath to try to reduce the amount of adrenalin thundering through me. Trying to forget it, I watched her, which somehow always managed to calm me down. Her facial features were still formed into a mask of fear, although I wasn't sure if it was about almost hurting her arm or my anger. I really wished it was the former. Just in case, I forced my furrowed brow to relax, kissing her chastely. I never wanted to scare her. I… I cared for her too much. Forget that, I didn't want to think about this either. Caring about her wasn't going to get me anywhere. In 8 days my parents were going to drag me to some girl, and we'd have to forget all about each other. I promised myself I never would.

"It's ok. You just scared me." My comment was answered with more grumbling.

"Gosh, I'd been trying to make you _laugh_." I chuckled, kissing her all over her face. First it was her jaw, her cheeks, her closed eyelids, her forehead, until I finally made my way to her lips. Normally our kisses were full of unkempt emotion. Anger and passion, notwithstanding the fact that they're opposites. Yet this one was slow and soft, our lips moving gently against one another. It was as if the world had given us a break, so we could simply enjoy each other's presence without rushing and feeling as if we were running out of time. Kisses always felt like a fire exploding in my stomach, this one instead being a warm glow that started at my toes, slowly spreading throughout my body until I felt like I was floating 6 feet above the ground. We pulled away, a small, elated smile pulling up the corners of my mouth.

"Aw, don't beat yourself up about it too much, you make me laugh most of the time without trying."

"Really?" She leaned back, her eyes becoming wide again, this time with wonder. I liked that expression a lot more than the scared-little-girl one from before.

"Yeah. Like for example when you fail at life." She laughed, stopped, glared, then laughed some more. I felt my own features light up, simply from seeing her so happy. "So, we were going somewhere?" I asked, lowering her down, sneaking in a kiss on her cheek. I'd never get used to being able to kiss her, even if it was only a kiss on the cheek. It was my favourite thing in the world to watch her whole face reddening.

"Well, I actually don't know where. Cos I want to show you something once it gets dark, so we've got a while."

"Coffee?" Her smile could've illuminated the whole field we were standing in. I knew I'd never shine as bright, but in that second I allowed my walls to fall completely, giving her the happiest and most content smile I'd ever given anyone. The sparkle that glowed in her eyes when she saw me could've blown me away.

"Coffee." My heart beat erratically in my chest. In that moment I knew. I didn't know how, I just did. I'd never ever forget Althea Sanders. She'd calmed me down when I'd been spacey, dragged me out of my sad moods, made me laugh when no one else had been able to, and forced me to drop my mask. My stupid, ridiculous mask.

If this wasn't what love felt like, I didn't know what was.

Althea's POV:

I looked at him and smiled, laying my head against the grass. Our interlinked hands lay between us, a promise to never let go weaved in our fingers. My gaze drifted to the dark sky, focusing on the small pin-pricks of light. They didn't keep my interest for long, my gaze falling straight back to Ian

"Why have I never done this before?" I felt my heart plummet at the sound of his awestruck voice, and then start up again in a frenzy. But I was Althea, my heart didn't race and I didn't get butterflies. So I responded with what I would've had I not been so entranced with the boy beside me.

"Cos you're a dumbass."

"And here I thought we could get through a whole evening without you insulting me." Unable to help myself, I grinned at him cheekily, but it soon turned into an expression of fondness. The hand that wasn't holding his rose up, playing with the hem of his t-shirt.

"Wishful thinking." I mumbled.

"Tell me about it." Neither of us was staring at the stars anymore, simply looking at each other. And I realised I preferred that, because I now felt as if I was gazing at my own personal star – one I would never share.

"I knew you'd like it." I whispered, the roaring silence around us making me feel like the quiet was sacred. If I spoke up I'd break the spell.

"Beautiful." Glancing up quickly, almost afraid to break eye contact with him, I saw millions of stars twinkling down. In that instant, I felt like they were just for us, no one being able to see the wonder we were catching with our eyes. Looking back at Ian, I saw he hadn't looked away from me.

"I know."

"I wasn't talking about the stars." He quickly replied, making me grin broader than I'd ever done.

"That's so cheesy."

"Damn straight." He winked, making me giggle. Leaning in, our lips joined, fireworks exploding behind my eyelids. And I suddenly realised why the world was so loud when I gazed at the stars – because none were bright enough to keep me rooted to the ground. Everything was quiet now, all I could hear for miles around was the sound of his breathing, mixing with mine until it because a tangled mess of _us_. That's all I ever wanted it to be. I'd finally found a star bright enough to hold me to earth.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok, so I know some of you are getting antsy about the soulfinder thing, but worry not, it is most definitely happening next chapter! Yay! The build up to this has been insane, honestly, like I've been stressing about making this exactly perfect for so long xD**

 **The reviews last chapter were absolutely lovely, thank you all so much! And the quicker wee get to the chapter goal this time the quicker I'll upload the chapter *hint* *hint*. So do you think we can get to 90? Btw, I was thinking that once we get 3 digits, I'll be doing a special chapter, just like I did with Fixing Petal, so drop me a review telling me what you'd like to see :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	24. Chapter 24

Althea's POV:

"Ok Ian, that's it, I'm sick of this. Stop beating around the bush and just tell me what your parents are going to do once they get here." He'd gotten off from a call with his dad, now sporting an expression which was a mix between angry and melancholic. I grabbed his hand, rubbing lazy circles on his palm, wanting all the tension in his muscles to dissipate.

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

" _Can't_." Sighing in confusion, I snuggled into his side. I wanted to be physically closer to him at the very least, even if he wasn't letting me get closer to him mentally. It was 3 days until his parents came, and the infamous doom knocked on Ian's door. It was a shame that I didn't know _what_ this doom was, nor what I could do to protect him from it.

"Unless there's a secret oath, I'm going to say that it's more 'won't' than 'can't'."

"There is a secret oath though." By this point I was despairing, sending him a nonplussed look.

"An _oath_. Are you kidding me right now?"

"I'm not, I swear." This time he grabbed my hand, rather than vice versa, threading our fingers together. The action was soothing, making me lay my head on his shoulder. The effect this boy had on me was insane, he shouldn't be able to calm me down so easily, especially when I was so on edge about this whole situation with his parents.

"Then try to go around the oath. Use metaphors or something."

"I'll try. But I can't promise you'll understand."

"Fine." I patiently waited until he spoke up again, idly playing with his fingers and sinking further into his side. Glancing up, I saw his grey eyes swimming with worry, an expression of concentration permeating his features. His brow was furrowed, creases of fear lining his eyes. I wanted to wish that expression away – for his eyes to shine bright and clear like when we were joking around. Instead I did the next best thing, kissing him softly for only a moment. Almost immediately his face relaxed slightly, his shoulders drooping.

"I can't keep anything from you, can I?"

"Nope, you love me too much." Winking at him, I made him laugh slightly, but humourlessly.

"When my parents come, they'll be forcing us apart."

"What? No!" I sprung away from him, searching his face for any indication that he was lying or joking or anything in between. I found nothing that would indicate that. My heart deflated in my chest at the realization that in only 3 days I wouldn't be able to kiss him and hold him and love him until my heart hurt. "Why?" My voice broke, everything inside me coming undone. Ian had saved me from that nightmarish hole of not caring about anything. He couldn't just leave me. He _couldn't_.

He didn't reply, the words seemingly stuck in his throat. I didn't blame him, my words were choked too. He just shook his head at me, pain radiating from his very being. I didn't care how dramatic we were being. First love was about being overly intense and loving a little too hard. Which was just my specialty.

Not allowing the feeling of sadness to invade me, I jumped on him, sending him sprawling backwards onto the bed. I kissed him and kissed him and kissed him, until our lips were raw and red, until our bodies felt like they'd never known anything else, until our minds could only think of this this this. His hair under my fingertips, our mouths moving in sync, everything clicking and making sense, because nothing apart from Althea and Ian existed.

We fought for dominance, crashing our lips together and rolling around to see who could end up on top. The kisses were like spontaneously combusting, flames overtaking my body. At other times, our kisses turned soft, neither of us caring who took the lead, neither of us caring about much of anything. Those kisses were like flying, gently drifting in the wind. I kissed down his neck, up his jaw, on his earlobe – anywhere my lips could reach. His hands gripped my hips tightly, holding me to him as if he couldn't let go.

Somehow Ian ended up without his shirt on, as I flitted my hands across his chest carelessly. Everything about this was reckless. We were just two broken people who didn't know how to do anything right. Only this. So this we did.

Once we got tired, we laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Silence hung heavily around us, the realisation of what would happen hitting us all at once. We could make out, trying to ignore it for as long as possible, but one way or another it would always end, the present having a way to catch up with you. _3 days_. Only 3 days of being able to do this whenever I liked. Or at all.

Despite having told myself I wouldn't be sad, I buried my face in the crook of Ian's neck, wave after wave of sorrow washing through me. Ian turned his body so that he was facing me, cradling me in his chest as if he could protect me from the passage of time. He couldn't. _3 days_. That was all we had left.

"Why are they separating us? What gives them the right to do this?" I'd wanted to make my voice steely, stoic as can be. It turned out weak instead, the sound of hidden tears making my voice thick.

"It's hard to explain. I'm sort of… betrothed." So that's what it was. His soulfinder. That was even worse. If they'd been separating us for anything else it would've hurt less than this – at least then I would know I'd still have a place in his heart. But this? He'd find a beautiful girl to spend the rest of his life with, one he'd love unconditionally, and I'd no longer be on his mind. His lips would find a taste they liked better than mine, his eyes a sight more beautiful, his ears a sound more charming. Worst of all, his mind would find a girl he'd much rather think of, one who'd occupy his thoughts.

" _Betrothed_? Don't use fancy language with me, we both know you mean soulfinder."

"Yeah, a soulf- Wait what did you just say?"

"Soulfinder?"

"How do you know that word?" He sprung up from his position beside me, staring at me with his wide eyes, wild hair sticking up every which way. I giggled, patting it down. Ian didn't relax his stance, still boring holes into me with his stare. "Ally this is important, damn it." He ground this out through clenched teeth, making me sit back to watch his expression in confusion. Why was he being so weird about this?

"Why wouldn't I know that word? Do you think I'm retarded or something?"

"Because you're not a savant!"

"What the hell are you on about, of course I'm a savant you prick." I hit him lightly, then went to stand up to stretch out my stiff joints. Before I could move though, I saw Ian's face in my peripherals, his face contorting into a mix of surprise and confusion. Did he really not know? My hate for the Benedicts, which had been all but forgotten during my relationship with Ian, came thundering back. Of course he didn't know. They didn't give a crap about anyone who wasn't as insanely powerful as them. As if your power decided whether you were a person or not.

"You- you- _what?_ "

"This is fucking great. You know what, I'm signed up in a database of yours and everything. But do you care? You don't, your family doesn't either. I can't shoot lasers out of my ass, nor levitate five feet in the air, so of course no one in your family gave a damn about me." Standing up quickly, I grabbed my bag from where I'd thrown it on the floor, marching to the door. I was turning the doorknob when a hand stopped me, grabbing mine gently and making me let go of the door. "What do you want Ian?" I growled, my whole being feeling frayed.

"I didn't know this database even existed, so don't start screaming on me. Can we start again?" Huffing, I displayed my displeasure with this idea, but nodded anyway. "You're a savant?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't mention this before, why?" This time I rolled my eyes.

"It isn't something you can mention in the middle of a busy hallway babe." He ignored my response, simply continuing on with the interrogation. I put my weight against the door, giving him a look that showed him how unimpressed I was with this whole situation.

"Alright fine. But why didn't you even try to see if we were soulfinders?"

"I didn't want to be disappointed if we weren't." My cold exterior melted, as I felt panic flow through me. I hadn't done it consciously, yet now that I thought of it I noticed how much I'd avoided that topic when I was around Ian, not even allowing myself to think of it. We'd been so good together, I hadn't wanted to consider the possibility that a single thought could change it all completely.

"My parents are coming to drag me to her in 3 days, what have got to lose?" The fact that he said 'her' wasn't doing anything for my confidence, but I nodded anyway. He clearly wanted to do this, so who was I to stop him? He'd be abandoning me soon anyway. Yet I'd been looking forward to those days, and now my time with him had been reduced to mere seconds. My blood ran cold.

He stepped away from me, running a hand through his hair. We watched each other quietly, what we were about to do hanging heavily in the air. Neither of us wanted to take the first step, to speak in the other's mind. But, truth be told, I didn't want him to take the first step either, so I'd be the one to feel the cold nothingness when I noticed there was no bond between us apart from stupid highschool love. When his mind brushed mine, I flinched hard into the door.

 _Ally?_ His voice was gentle, coming into my mind with a silk touch. Once it was there however, it seemed to explode in a million fireworks. My parents didn't care much about romantic feelings, so they never explained to me what this would feel like. All I knew was that it was the best feeling in the world.

My mouth opened, a startled gasp coming through my lips. It felt like the freshest breath of air I'd ever taken. All colours were mixing and twirling and becoming beautiful new mixtures of what they'd been before. I could swear my feet weren't touching the floor, instead I was flying through a clear blue sky, Ian by my side. I never wanted it any other way. I was free. My chest constricted, happiness clogging up my throat. I let out a choked sob, whether it was from relief or pure unbridled joy, I didn't know.

It was him. Oh god, it was him.

 _Ian._

 **Hi :)**

 **This was honestly so great to write guys,** ** _they finally know they're soulfinders!_** **Tell me what you thought, and if you're as excited about this as I am ;)**

 **Oh my god guys, we passed the target by so much, was just just** ** _wow_** **. Seriously, you all made my day, completely :) Which is why I decided to post this one day earlier, even though it normally takes me 3 days to write up a chapter and make sure I like it. I hope it doesn't feel rushed! But yeah, so do you think we can get to 97? You'd make me so happy ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	25. Chapter 25

Althea's POV:

"Holy… Oh my god." Ian said, his voice thick with awe. I stared back at him, a plethora of emotions flitting through my chest. Most of them so strong I couldn't even force my legs to move. "Ally. It's you… It's really really you." I choked out a laugh, nodding. At one point we started moving closer and closer to each other, until there wasn't any distance between us at all.

"Yeah. Really really." I smiled a watery smile, as he gathered me in his arms, an expression of pure elation covering his features.

"Do you know how many times I've wished for this? How many times I've refused to let myself hope?" I understood what he meant perfectly, having experienced it myself ever since I started dating him. It just hadn't been exactly a conscious effort. For that at least I was glad, because had it been anything but subconscious I would've been feeling terrible.

"I love you." I whispered, the words coming out weird and garbled through my mouth. They came out almost as a reflex action, because I did. I loved him more than I ever knew I could. So much that my chest hurt. So much that my fingertips tingled with longing to run themselves through his hair. So much that my stomach exploded in butterflies every time he so much as looked my way. I loved him completely, irrevocably – and when you love someone so much it's hard to hide it. Sure, we'd only been going out for 3 weeks, but that felt like it had lasted an eternity. Eons and eons spreading behind us of times we'd shared with laughter, tears, and love.

"I love you too." He responded immediately, kissing me fervently. I giggled into his lips, the happiness inside me being so huge I couldn't contain it. It bubbled through my lips with a laugh, it shone in my eyes with a sparkle, and it radiated through every part of me. I felt like I was on cloud 9, finally that expression making sense. "I love you, I love you, I love you." He then leaned into my ear, his breath tickling the sensitive spot there. "And you know the best part?" I shook my head slightly. "I'm allowed to love you now." I felt his grin against my skin as he lowered his lips to my neck, kissing me gently. This was nothing like the ardent ones from before, when we'd been running out of time and everything had been wrong. No, in this one we were free. Really, truly, unendingly free. I could never get enough of this feeling.

"So your parents will accept me now?" This was obviously the wrong question to ask, him pulling back to stare at me. The worried sheen that had covered his eyes before had vanished, although a crease forced itself between his brows.

"Forget about them." I was about to protest, but then his lips were back on my ear, and his hands on my body, and I couldn't even remember why I'd wanted him to stop in the first place. So I simply hummed in reply, smiling at how infinitesimally happy I was.

"I'm home!" Swooping down, I placed a kiss on my little sister's cheek, seeing how I hadn't seen her in quite a while. That's what sneaking into and out of the house did. It meant I avoided my parents, but unfortunately also meant avoiding my siblings. A sacrifice I was willing to make, but sad nonetheless.

"Do you know how worried your father and I have been?!" Came my mother's screeching yell from the kitchen. I didn't honour her with a response, ducking upstairs. For a few seconds, I thought they'd follow me, but I soon realised the footsteps I thought I heard was just my pulse thundering in my ears from the adrenaline. I hated having to hide in my own house, especially considering that I had now followed through with their wishes of me getting a soulfinder. I was tired though, and I didn't want to give them the idea that they'd somehow won.

Sprawling on my bed, I stared up at the ceiling, an endless sea of white white white. It didn't take long for me to shut my eyes tightly, in fear of the hallucinations starting up again. I hadn't told Ian – that is, unless he was there to presence them – but I'd been getting a lot more lately. At least they weren't getting worse, I reasoned, trying to find a silver lining. It wasn't a very good one.

A knock on the door startled me out of my reverie, making me growl.

" _What?"_

"Althea, can you come out please?" It was my dad, who was just as bad, if not worse, than my mum. So I knew that if I refused he'd break it down, destroying anything and everything that stood between him and his goal. Which in this case meant getting my sorry ass out of my bedroom. I sighed in desperation, padding over to the door.

"What do you want?"

"Your mother and I would like to speak to you." Again with this silly posh attitude, as if we had something to prove in our own home. Rolling my eyes, I started walking down the stairs, not even bothering with an affirmation. He knew I'd say yes no matter what, he hadn't even phrased his words like a question. I was going to speak to them, whether I liked it or not. I stood in the door of the living room, finding both of them sat down, sombre expressions on their faces. This felt uncannily familiar, it being practically the same as when they'd told me to get a soulfinder months ago.

"Ok, just tell me the bad news and get it over with."

"This is no laughing matter, young lady. I've gotten an email from almost all your professors saying the same thing: that you're getting _Fs_ in their subjects. Fs, Althea." Even though I'd been keeping my composure, and had promised I wouldn't let them affecting me, I felt my face pale. I'd been slacking off in all my essay subjects, because they'd been a bore and something I couldn't be asked to do. I never imagined they'd contact my parents though, especially like this, randomly in the middle of the term.

"Well, Fs aren't the end of the world-"

"Whatever you're selling, we're not buying. This has been happening _all year_. In addition to that, you haven't been home in over a week," I opened my mouth to correct them, and inform them that I had in fact been in the house, just that I'd been hiding it very well, but she kept rattling on about all the ways I was doing things wrong. "which is unacceptable. Do you know how our business partners would react if they found out we had a daughter that likes to leave the house for weeks at a time?"

"They probably wouldn't care, because they're interested in your business, little else!"

"We're important people, we have to pose a good image."

"Then just kick me out! That'll make it all better, won't it? Throw out the disgraced child, pretend I was just a silly bump, a mistake. Then start over with Holly, she's certainly showing promise in the how-to-behave-like-a-clone department!" By the end of my rant I was panting, and I'd stood up from the couch. I was pretty sure my face was blotchy, tears accumulating in my eyes. Yet the worst part was that my parents were staring at me, unfazed, like their daughter thinking she was hated by them was ok. Like it was true. No one spoke. I couldn't stand it any longer. "Fine!" I'd always suspected that they didn't love me, but it had never been confirmed. They'd never outright said it. I supposed a part of me was still holding onto hope. What a foolish thing to do.

I ran out the door, which once again made a wave of déjà vu course through me. This was how our last conversation had ended too. Except, this time, I wasn't going to come back. If they wanted me gone so badly, then I'd finally do something right.

What a wretched way to end such a beautiful evening. It was supposed to be filled with celebration, and hugs from friends and family. Instead all there was was an aching pain in my chest that wouldn't falter. I'd been blocking my feelings towards my parents for so long, that now that they'd finally caught up with me it felt like a being punched by a brick wall.

 **Hi :)**

 **And so, the drama begins! But I gave you guys a little bit of happiness at the start, to make up for it haha. I hope you don't hate me** ** _too_** **much ;) But, hey, I managed to upload this in 2 days instead of 3, so you gotta love me, right? xD**

 **Holy freaking hell guys, we got the highest amount of reviews per chapter I have** ** _ever_** **gotten.** ** _Ever_** **. When I saw this morning that we'd gotten to 101 reviews I think my jaw fell straight to the ground xD The promise was that I'd give you all a special chapter, but tbh I have no ideas, so vote to tell me what you'd like!**

 **A) Another date with Althea and Ian (where nothing goes wrong, for once)**

 **B) One of the chapters from an alternate character's POV**

 **C) The scene where they tell Maisee and Gray that they're soulfinders (because that won't be featuring in the actual book)**

 **D) Tell me an idea of your own!**

 **Ok, that's all for todaysies, do you think we can get to 106? Thanks a bunch!**

 **Bye bye xx**


	26. Special chapter!

**Just a quick note, this is a special chapter to thank you all for reaching the triple digits with reviews. It's sorta a missed scene of Ian and Althea telling Petal and Gray about dating. Hope you enjoy! Also, this doesn't really fit in with the timeline of the story, but don't mind that xD**

I swallowed hard, glaring down at the phone in front of me. I knew I had to do this. Hell, I'd known I had to do this for a long while now. Fiddling with it, I tried to force myself to tap on Maisee's name. I couldn't do it. Ian and I had been dating for almost a couple of weeks now, I owed it to her to at least tell her. My mind was frozen though, in a chaotic state of panic that I couldn't force myself out of.

In the background, I heard a door softly opening and closing it, but I paid it no heed. The matter at hand was more important. What if she snapped at me for not telling her sooner? We hadn't spoken in quite a while, simply because Ian and I had been using up every single minute together in fear of when his parents would show up. What if she thought Ian was stealing me away from her? I didn't want her mad at him, I truly cared for them, I wished I could just coexist with the both of them.

"Ally, you doing ok?" Snapping out of my reverie, I quickly turned, seeing Ian standing in the middle of the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. Without saying a word, I reached out for it, needing it desperately. With a chuckle, he handed me the drink, settling beside me on his bed.

"I am now."

"I'll never understand how you love coffee so much." His words were accompanied with him slinging an arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his chest. The action almost caused some coffee to spill over, so he carefully took it from me, setting it on the bedside table. "Now, what's wrong?" I knew now why he'd brought me coffee – he'd noticed I was upset and cheered me up in the best way he could. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve someone as wonderful as him. Leaning up slightly, I kissed his jaw, then nestled myself back into the crook of his shoulder. Even from this angle I could see the crooked smile that lit up his face.

"I'm trying to figure out how to tell Maisee we're dating."

"Seriously? That's it?" His shoulders visibly shook from his laughter, so I slapped his arm, groaning at him.

"It's not that simple Ian! Maisee's like my only friend, I don't want her to take this the wrong way."

"How the hell could she? I mean, imagine she went up to you and went 'hey Althea, I'm dating this person'. You'd have to be all kinds of crazy to get mad at her suddenly." He was right, but he was also wrong. My mind didn't see things logically when it came to the people I care about. I somehow managed to see things in worst case scenarios. Like when I believed Gray was hurting her because she was so afraid of guys – although that turned out to be her asshole dad in the end. Or like when I assumed she'd stop being my friend to hang out with Gray. Normally I saw things the way they were, and then made reckless decisions based on what I wanted to do. But when it came down to things like this, I just couldn't. I still remembered the lingering fear of thinking that Ian would want a normal girl with a normal life.

"Yeah, but… I'm just scared, ok? Stop making fun of me." At this, he sobered up, taking the phone from my hands. He knew I barely admitted to being afraid of things, so his laughter was quick to subside.

"I'll do it for you then babe."

"What, no, I couldn't-"

"Hey Maisee!" I practically shrieked at his words, seeing him with the phone pressed against his ear. I mouthed at him to give it back to me, making wild hand gestures. It was too late to hang up though, I could hear Maisee's muffled 'Ian?' coming from the phone. "The one and only. Sorry I'm calling from Ally's phone, but she's chickening out of telling you something important, so I've decided to swoop in."

I jumped on him, trying to grab the phone out of his hands, but he rolled out from underneath me, continuing his conversation as if nothing had happened. Hopping off the bed gracefully, he padded across the room, getting as far away from me as he could. I shot him the finger from my spot on the bed, which just made him wink at me.

"I know! I thought it was very gallant too." I watched him carefully, waiting for the best moment to strike. Maybe he'd get really into the conversation, that would provide the best chance to attack. "No, no, she's not admitting to murder. I mean, I'm still alive, aren't I?" He didn't appear to be losing interest in me, still staring avidly at me. His eyes were swimming with mirth, which was supposed to anger me, but instead made him look really hot. God damn it, I had to stop letting him get to me.

Angry at myself for getting distracted by his good looks, I lunged at him, throwing all caution to the wind. Somehow, I managed to catch him off guard, sending us both sprawling on the floor. I grinned triumphantly, until I saw he'd now put it on speaker, and was stretching his arm as far away from me as he could. I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"Um… what is it then?" Asked Maisee, her voice sounding a bit crackly. I hoped I hadn't broken his phone with my little stunt.

"Well, you see-" He began, making me shut him up the only way I knew how. Kissing him. It was dangerous with her on the phone, only half a metre away from us. But I didn't care. He fell for it, as expected, deepening the kiss and dropping the phone to wrap his arms around my waist. I had to stop an evil chuckle from escaping.

"Ian? Ian?!" Her panicked shouts came, whilst we continued to be in our own little world. She'd get tired of it eventually, I reasoned, and it was certainly a lot better than hanging up on her, which had been my previous plan. Soon, she did, the call becoming flat.

"You. Absolute. Fucker." Ian's insult was very much reduced in effect, considering he was saying it between kisses and soft moans. I wanted to think that I had all the power in this situation, but I'd be lying to myself. I should've hung up on her, or done _something_. Instead I was making out with him on the floor, just as gone from reality as he was. He could've easily been the one manipulating me. I wouldn't even care, I was so far away, enchanted on his spell.

"Ian!" The sound was far and distant, so I didn't even turn my head in the direction of the shout. His uncle was probably calling him about something or other. It could wait. I smirked as he threaded his fingers into my hair, smashing our lips together with all the carnage and beauty of a supernova.

"You're so beautiful." He mumbled.

"Mine." I mumbled back, my lips too preoccupied with him to really bother with speaking clear words. His eyes opened lazily, giving me a look with so much unfiltered love that I felt my breath swoosh out of my lips with a breathy giggle.

"Mine." He echoed, making me smile broadly enough to split my face in half, I was sure. I brought our lips together again, and was about to reply, when a massive ruckus from behind us sent me jumping in shock.

"What the f-"

"Ian oh my god are you ok?" Maisee barged in, making more noise than anyone her size should probably be able to. Gray came in right behind her, looking both scared and ready to kick someone in the face. "Althea?" And, just like that, the two of them finally took in the situation in front of them. Their expressions dropped into a mask of confusion, probably at seeing Ian and I so close.

"…What's going on here?" They must've been speaking through telepathy, as they glanced at each other, mirrored looks of concentration on their faces. "Althea, you can't go around hurting people!"

"Uh, what?" My question was completely ignored, Maisee coming to sit beside me. Gently, she pried me off Ian, managing to make me even more confused. What conclusion had they come to that meant they were separating us? Did they realise we were together and hated it so much that they wanted us apart? The thought felt like it was choking me.

"I know he said he was going to spill a secret of yours, but that's no excuse to hurt him." She began, tears gathering in her eyes. All the while, I stared up at her in shock. I understood now what idea they'd come up with to explain this insane situation. It miffed me that they thought me strangling Ian was more likely than me kissing him, especially considering we were in an intimate position when they'd come in. It was practically impossible to assume that I'd been hurting him.

"I'd never hurt him!" I shouted in indignation. Shock was plainly apparent on Maisee's face, as she absentmindedly scratched the top of her head.

"You… wouldn't?" I was about to yell at her again when I remembered that last time we'd spoken all together I _had_ been threatening to kill him. So her conclusion did make sense, although it hurt nonetheless. "I just assumed, I mean, he stopped talking, and- and- Oh god I'm so sorry!" She hugged me tightly to her, and I was struck by how overemotional she was about something as silly as this. Yet her actions made me stiffen, as they meant one thing and one thing only – now that this had been resolved I had to tell her. I couldn't keep chickening out of it forever. I went to speak up, when another voice shut me down completely.

" _I'm_ not sorry. Why should we believe her? Ian wouldn't leave in the middle of a call like that. I want to hear it from him." Gray's voice held concealed anger. I stepped out of Maisee's arms standing up to my whole height – which, albeit, wasn't much – facing off to Gray.

"Say that again, asshole, I dare you."

"I. Am. Not. Sorry. You wanna know why? Cause-"

"Gray, don't." Ian finally got off the floor, tugging me away from his cousin with a half-hearted glare in my direction. I knew he didn't mean it. However, the glare he was giving Gray was full-fledged and ready to kill a man. This was a lot more fun than me fighting, especially considering that when Ian sized up he was taller than Gray. Unlike me – I barely reached his shoulder.

"What're they doing?" Whispered Maisee in my ear, but I just shook her off, my attention completely on the two guys in front of me. I didn't want Gray to suffer too much, but I'd been wanting to sock him in the face since I first met him.

"Don't speak to her like that." Ian was practically fuming in front of me, his shoulders tensed up.

"Why're you on her side? I'm pretty sure she did fight you, she has so much violence inside that tiny body of hers."

"She didn't fight me, alright? Shut the fuck up."

"Right, well if she didn't do it this time I'm sure she will soon enough. If I were you I'd stay the hell away from her, she's a little crazy, if you know what I mean."

"I said don't speak about her like that!" I wanted to chant 'fight, fight, fight', but I knew Maisee would most probably slap me, so I kept my lips sealed, watching with amusement. However, I came to the realisation that they were _actually_ about to fight. I wanted to punch Gray very badly, but that didn't mean I needed to screw up his friendship with Ian to achieve it. I hated caring about Ian, it made me think logically. Damn. Carefully, I grabbed his arm, standing next to him so I could intervene at any time. He was so angry by that point that he didn't even notice me.

"Why not? It isn't like she hasn't spoken about me like that." At this, I had to speak up, irritation boiling inside of me.

" _Actually_ , I don't care about you enough to insult you, so suck my-"

"O-kaaay, I think it's time we calm down a little." Maisee said this, grabbing my arm and dragging me back. Then, she stood in between the guys, staring at Ian, her back to Gray. I knew what she was doing. She was acting like a peace-maker but in reality she was just protecting him. I couldn't blame her. I couldn't help but feel afraid for Ian. I didn't want him to get hurt, nor to get in such a nasty feud with his cousin over something I could easily fix.

"Maisee's right, this honestly doesn't matter all that much, Ian." I spoke up, coming between the guys too. At his look of confusion, I stretched my hand between us. "Pinky promise." Chuckling, Ian shook on it, stepping away from the problem. I was slightly disappointed, although a larger part of me was relieved. This was better. Much better. I'd rather Ian be safe and happy than beating up guys for me just because they disliked me. If he kept this up he'd have to fight everyone, seeing how hardly anyone liked me.

"Alright. We good man?" Asked Ian, Gray laughing a little nervously. Ian and him did a little bro hug thing, I guessed it was to ease the tension. I had no idea how they managed to make it look so complicated. When he was back to my side, I smiled, threading my arm through his.

"We're good." Gray agreed.

"But let me tell you something, if you _ever_ speak about my girlfriend like that again, I'll deck you. Clear?" Gray's immediate response was to nod straight away, his Adam's apple bobbing in fear. However, us girls had already caught up with the important part of Ian's message. I glowered as hard as I physically could, which was a lot, considering my whole existence was based on scowls.

"Crystal clear." He said, whilst Maisee mumbled "Girlfriend?" at the same time. I face palmed, truly wanting to kill my boyfriend. I took back what I'd said to her before. There _was_ something that could make me want to hurt him. Like, for example, him spilling the secret I'd wanted to tell Maisee in the peace and quiet of my own home. Or, at the very least, not after we'd all almost gotten in a fight.

"Ha ha, Ian's hilarious." I tried to fix the situation, but it was all forced, my jaw too clenched in anger to really be able to let out a laugh. I sent Ian a look that clearly meant he was dead.

"You're _dating_?" They both exclaimed, equal looks of pure, utter shock covering their faces.

"I'm going to _kill_ you Ian!" All of my anger tightened and uncoiled, as I sprung towards him, hands stretched to punch him or slap him or strangle him. Maybe a creative mix of all three. I was definitely furious enough to do so.

"But, babe, I have so much to live for!" He laughed, as we both fell back on his mattress.

"Well then maybe you should've thought about it before speaking!"

"But I _wanted_ them to know."

"I'm glad he did." Supplied Maisee from behind me. I turned, to see her standing there, awkwardly twiddling her fingers together. "I'm so happy for you two!" Taking me completely by surprise, she hugged me again, this time not with guilt but with bubbling joy. I couldn't help but hug her back just a tightly. In the background I heard a 'congrats man', probably from Gray. They might even be doing that bro hug thing again. I didn't bother checking, too entranced by what was happening with her and I.

"Wait, so you aren't mad at me?"

"Why would I, silly? You're both my friends, I'm so ecstatic about this!" She covered her mouth, her eyes positively sparkling. And, in that second, I didn't care what her next words would be, or why she was looking at me with a look that screamed 'eureka!'. All I knew was that everything would be ok. I still had my friend, who cried over cute puppies and called me silly for suggesting she'd ever get mad over anything. I still had my soulfinder, who looked happier than I'd seen him in the past few weeks, talking with Gray about something or other, no longer any anger remaining in their tone. Ian, who made me do things I was scared of, whilst I made him do things he was scared of too. Ian, who made me feel like I could stretch up and touch the moon with my fingertips, because I was at the top of the world and nothing could stop me with him at my side. And, best of all, I still had me. In any scenarios where I imagined meeting my soulfinder I always saw myself changing, becoming something that I wasn't. Ian hadn't done that. He'd just made me _more_. "We can double date!"

As I looked around the room, all of our faces in bright smiles, that's all I saw. More, more, more. I wanted to live in this moment forever – I'd never be higher than this.

 **Hi :)**

 _ **3,000 words, guys**_ **. 3,000! I don't think I've ever written this much in one sitting, cos I'm normally super picky about phrasing and everything (I deserve a standing ovation xD ). So this was just kind of a light chapter (with a little bit of Ian being protective cos awwww) and I hoped you liked it!**

 **I just want to say a massive thank you to all of you for helping me get here, this story's been tricky to get through, especially considering how hard Ally is to write xD But you helped me through it, and now, despite us still having quite a way to go, I'm really happy with how everything's working out. Your reviews are always so amazingly lovely, making me smile without fail, so I need to thank you for that too :)**

 **Can we get to 112 this chapter?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	27. Chapter 27

Althea's POV:

That night, I slept under the stars. I'd thought of going back to Ian's (or, well, Gray's) house, but I didn't have it in me to face him again. Especially considering he'd be expecting happiness and joy, whilst all he'd get from me would be a few tears of self-pity. My evening had been ruined, but that didn't mean his had to be.

So the next morning I awoke with morning dew making my top stick to me, and a bird staring at me curiously. I growled at it, in too much of a bad mood to do anything else. Startled, it flew away, leaving me alone once more. As I stretched cautiously, several of my joints clicked, making me groan in frustration. No way Ian wouldn't notice how much of a mess I was.

I didn't dwell on that thought too much, getting up and starting to make my way to school. It was a tiring journey, my back stiff from the floor, my top wet. I tried to convince myself that no one would notice or care the state I was in, but I got a few curious stares whilst walking down the street, so that was probably unlikely. Half an hour later, I found myself in front of the school gates, a twisting feeling in my gut. That was new. I'd never felt trepidation.

"Althea! How're you doing? I haven't seen you in ages." Maisee didn't give me much longer of peace, walking up to me with a hesitant expression on her face. "Are you ok? You seem... rumpled." Damn, if she'd been able to guess so easily, Ian would surely be able to.

"Yeah, I just woke up late. Didn't even have time to shower." I replied to her, with a small laugh at the end. Out of sight, I crossed my fingers, praying with all my might that she'd believe the fib. She seemed oblivious, laughing along with me. I'd never hidden anything from anyone in my life, believing in 100% honesty, but I didn't want anything I said to reach Ian's ears, causing him to worry about me. I was fine.

"Well Ian and Gray are already here, come on." She dragged me over to where they were standing, chatting amicably. When they finally saw me next to Maisee, Gray's eyes widened in slight fear, while Ian smiled, practically blowing me away. It even made me forget momentarily about my predicament.

"Hey Ally."

"Hey." I said back. Gray looked in confusion between us, and I was tempted to bare my teeth at him in a 'back off' sign. I didn't think Ian would take very well to me growling at his cousin though. So I stayed put.

"Did she really just let you call her something other than Althea?" He was probably remembering the time I'd pounced at him for trying to give me a nickname. I didn't really know when I'd stopped being irritated by Ian calling me Ally, it was probably just force of habit, immunity from long exposure.

"It's cause she loves me." He winked at me. Both Maisee and Gray took a step back, allowing me a corridor to scream at him to my heart's content, without any collateral damage. Instead, I shocked them by blushing completely, my face feeling poker-hot. At my absolute silence, even Ian frowned at me.

 _Are you ok?_ He whispered into my mind, causing me to gasp quietly. I'd never get used to the feeling of him speaking to me, it made me feel whole.

 _Never better_. Gray and Maisee were now watching our silent conversation, furrowed brows and confusion permeating their actions.

"Ally and I are going to go to my locker. I forgot something." Without letting me nod or even confirm his statement in any way, he grabbed me, towing me away from the pair. "Ok, spill the beans, what happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Then why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday? And- is your back wet?" He'd placed his hand on the small of my back to guide me along to his locker, which I'd now realised I didn't know the position of. "Come on babe, don't keep this from me. I want to help." Seeing how Ian was going to worry regardless of whether I told him the reason I was upset or not, I let a half-truth escape my mouth.

"My parents are angry at me." Understatement of the century.

"How does that lead to you not-?"His lips clamped shut, realisation dawning on him. He covered his mouth with one hand, his eyebrows practically rising to his hairline. Sometimes he was smarter than he should be. I lowered my eyes down in shame. "You didn't sleep at home."

Not sure I could formulate a response, I just nodded, my mouth feeling like I'd stuck sand paper in it. We were submerged in silence, until my stomach broke it with a low grumble. Embarrassment made my face hot again, although all I could feel was Ian's gaze, penetrating my very being, as if he could see all of those secrets even I was too scared to confront.

"Come on, we're getting you some food. And clean clothes."

"Do I stink that much?" Attempting to make a joke, I smiled at him. He let out a low chuckle, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Nah, you're too sweet." I didn't have a chance to understood what he meant, him walking towards the exit distracting me. We were skipping again? I felt we'd done it way too many times this week, but I didn't dare ask him whether this was the right choice. We were in love and we were a little insane and for the first time in my life I wanted that not to matter. I wanted to be a normal teenager skipping class because she had history and she couldn't stand her teacher. Not because her parents had disowned her.

Taking a steadying breath, I followed Ian, intent in our footfalls. To do what, I didn't know.

"Auntie Sky?" Called Ian, looking into the living room. A call came from the kitchen, making Ian abruptly change his direction, to go there instead.

"What are you doing out of- Oh." The person Ian had called Sky was standing in the middle of the kitchen, an easel in front of her. She was beautiful, with her hair elegantly tied up into a bun, and paint stains on both her jeans and her face. Still looking mildly shocked, she wiped her hands, offering them to me to shake. "I'm Sky, and you?"

"Althea."

"That's a pretty name." She smiled kindly, although it didn't last very long, turning straight back to Ian. Even though the expression wasn't directed to me, I could see her question gaze pinning Ian to the wall.

"I- uh- she- uh."

"Use your words hun." Noticing that she wouldn't get anything out of him like that she went back to the easel, so he could arrange his words without her piercing gaze making him uncomfortable. I wish I'd met her before, she seemed pretty cool. Although truth be told there was no way I would have, as I was always snuck into Ian's bedroom. At first I thought he was ashamed of me – now I understood it was because he wanted to avoid the soulfinder questions.

"She needs food and clothes."

"Oh?" It was a carefully worded 'oh', both questioning and understanding. Ian didn't provide any more information, so she once more turned away from her painting. "Right, seeing how you're not giving me any more information I'm going to guess that it's all very hush hush. Don't worry I understand all about that sort of thing." She patted my arm reassuringly, before quickly scurrying out of the room.

"Oh no." Ian said this as he sat down on a kitchen stool, a heavy expression weighing down his features. I went up to him, settling myself into his lap. In hopes of rising his spirits, I placed a kiss on his jaw, then another on his lips. He moaned into my mouth, pressing me harder against his body.

"What's wrong?"

"She thinks you were hurt. Like Maisee was hurt." I didn't know what type of hurt Maisee had been put through, although I'd assumed it had had to do with her parents a long time ago. So she wasn't _completely_ off, but at the same time, she couldn't be more wrong. I didn't want her calling the police on my parents just because we'd had a dispute. They'd never hit me, we simply didn't see eye to eye. And, sure, that meant they didn't love me, but it wasn't something to go to the cops over.

"Oh no." I echoed his words, them feeling hefty in my mouth.

"Ok, I've got these clothes from Maisee, they should fit you fine." Sky came barging back in, holding a flowery top and light jeans. They were a lot lighter than my palette of colour combinations usually was – mainly dark red or purple with black – but beggars can't be choosers, I supposed.

"Thank you." I took them, and, after only a moment's hesitation, decided to go to the bathroom to change. Even from such a distance, I could hear their whispered conversation. Ian didn't waste any time to assure her that it wasn't as bad as she was imagining it to be. I could feel Sky's breath of relief from here.

After that she left us to our own devices, whilst Ian tried to shove cereal down my throat. It wasn't nearly sugary enough, I argued. He didn't humour me, pushing the bowl back towards me. That went on for a few more minutes, until we both simultaneously decided that the argument was stupid. So we solved it by making out, like we did most things nowadays. I liked it a lot more than how we resolved things before, which meant a lot of hurtful words and me wanting to throttle him.

"I like this more than fighting." His words left his mouth in short gasps, as he continued to kiss me and run his hands through my hair. I smiled against his mouth, humming in agreement.

My parents didn't love me, and his parents had a serious prejudice against me, and Sky was probably watching from the room next door, and I was failing English. But it didn't matter. We were meant to be.

And he liked this better than fighting.

 **Hi :)**

 **So, Althea met Sky! I hope I did her justice, I mean I haven't had to write her since Fixing Petal so I'm a bit out of practice :/**

 **Holy crap guys, your response to last chapter was so amazing, thank you all so much :')**

 **Also, I've run out of stored chapters, so the next one might take a little while to go up, seeing how I'll need to write it from scratch.** ** _But_** **I might get really inspired to go on a writing spree if you guys get to 117 reviews *hint* *hint*, *nudge* *nudge* ;)**

 **Bye bye! xx**


	28. Chapter 28

Ian's POV:

I'd had everything resolved. Everything had been perfect not 48 hours ago. I was with the love of my life, I was happy, I had my friends, and I was sure my parents would finally be able to accept Ally. So how had things gotten this bad? I watched as Ally lay her head on my shoulder, a look of concentration on her face. I didn't feel like fighting her for what she was thinking about. I was tired. So tired. Of this, of everything.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, barely able to put any emphasis into the words. I wished we could both disappear, vanish into our own little world where nothing would go wrong, and we'd be able to properly enjoy this 'honeymoon' phase of our relationship. Ally didn't seem in the mood to argue either, giving up her thoughts without much of a fight.

"Why? Just- why?"

~~2 days earlier~~

"Hey babe!" Came a shout from behind me, it being obviously Ally's voice. She hit me on the back of the head, then continued sprinting ahead. I watched her amused, as she skipped on ahead of me. After a while, I decided to catch up, speeding up my pace until it matched hers. "Took you long enough! Time's running out!"

"Time for what?" I tried to be serious for her sake, but I couldn't stop a smile from pulling up the corners of my lips. We were in a crowded hallway, yet she made me feel like we were the only two people in the world.

"To have an adventure, dumbass."

"An… adventure?"

"Yes!" She either missed my confused tone, or didn't care much for it, because she ploughed on, without explaining what she meant.

"Are we skipping again?" Dubious about the whole thing, I went to pull back, but then she smiled at me, her eyes practically twinkling with happiness, and I couldn't force myself to. Ever since she'd had that argument with her parents, she'd barely been showing any joy at all, her whole being dimming. I'd do anything to have her back, even letting her make me skip again. Just as I thought about how we'd surely get in trouble soon for making this a habit, an announcement on the intercom stopped us in our tracks.

" _Althea Sanders and Ian Benedict, people make your way to the principal's office, thank you._ " It cut off with a buzz of static, leaving us standing in the middle of the hallway, dumbfounded. People didn't pay us any heed, mulling around us. They chatted and laughed and kept going without a care. For the first time, me feeling like I was in my own world when I was with Althea bothered me. I tightened my hand around hers, needing it to feel like she would never let go. Nothing could go wrong if she was by my side. Nothing.

"Well, I guess they caught us." Playing it off with nonchalance, she started heading in its direction. I'd never done this before. Sure, I constantly tried to fit in, but doing stuff bad enough to get you sent to the principal's was never in my repertoire. My blood had gone cold. "Babe, you alright?"

"What if we get in actual trouble Ally?"

"Nah, it'll be fine." She shook a hand in front of her face, scrunching her nose in a 'it doesn't matter' fashion. All I could see was the fear in her eyes, which told me she didn't agree with her words one bit.

"Althea, Ian, lovely to meet you two trouble makers in person. It's truly an honour." This was our greeting as we made our way through the door, still holding hands as if it were our lifeline. It certainly felt like one. Worries were passing through my head at lightning speeds, one following so closely after the other that they turned into a cacophony of ' _no_ '. What if Althea's parents got so mad at her that they properly disowned her? What if my parents were informed and they got such a negative vibe from the whole thing that they banned me from seeing her, regardless of us being soulfinders? What if I got suspended- what if I got taken back to New York- what if- what if- what- _No._ "Do take a seat." I followed his command without hesitation, my world feeling like it was crumbling. This was so stupid; this whole thing was probably nothing. But when things involved Ally they were most likely never something as silly as nothing.

"Sir, I can explain-" Ally spoke up, sitting against the edge of her sat, nervously bouncing her knees. I put a hand on her thigh, hoping the gesture would be comforting, even though I felt none of the calm I was trying to convey.

"What, Althea? The skipping? Or the property damage?"

"The property what now?" Shock was plainly evident on both our features as we glanced at each other.

"Oh, so you're going to pretend that you weren't the ones who did this?" He slipped a picture across the table, a smirk taking over his features in an almost predatory look. I gulped loudly, slowly picking it up. It was a screenshot of a surveillance camera footage, two figures dressed in black stood there. They were in stark contrast in the photograph, the soft orange glows of the streetlights clashing horribly with them. But what was most noticeable in the picture were their actions. They'd spray-painted someone's car, the words "Althea and Ian. Take that, fucker" written clearly. I was going to be sick. I didn't understand what this meant.

"What is this?" My voice was wobbly, as I stared at it, unable to look away. Had someone framed us? Or had this been the work of some savant that worked with hypnosis and had decided to screw with our heads? Either way, the outcome couldn't be good. Especially when the principal seemed so intent on being our judge, jury and executioner.

" _That_ is CCTV evidence of your actions last night, when you gratified my car. And _this_ is your form saying that you're both expelled."

"Whoa, hold it buddy." Ally stood up, obviously having recovered from the shock a lot quicker than I had. I watched the situation unfold in front of me as if it was a movie. It didn't feel real. It didn't feel like it could possibly be my life. No one should hate us enough to do this. "I'm pretty sure you need evidence to expel us, and I can already tell you you're not going to find it. We didn't do this." She was hiding all her fear behind anger, practically trembling.

"Actually, we already took the liberty of searching in your lockers. And you won't _believe_ what I found." We both remained quiet, despite knowing exactly what his next words would be. "Spray paint! Rookie mistake, if you ask me, but that's highschoolers for you. Anyway, your parents have been called, and they'll be coming to pick you up shortly. I'm not even going to bother with punishments, I'm sure they'll take very good care of that." I sighed in relief, at least that could be out of the way. However, I saw his mischievous smile, and I knew this wasn't the end of the conversation. "But, in case they don't, here are forms saying you need to do community service for the next month."

I was going to be sick. I was actually going to be sick. My face was pale, my hands were shaking and sweating, I'd gone ice cold. All I could feel was my heart beating erratically in my chest. This was no longer a movie, a separate event to my life. No, this was suddenly very real and very much mine. And I couldn't take the idea.

~~24 hours later~~

"Ian! Ian!" Someone pounded on the door, the sound resounding throughout the house. Sky gave me a curious glance, as I made my way to the door. I shrugged at her, although I had an idea as to who it was. I was proven right when I saw Ally standing there, still in the day before yesterday's clothes, tears marring her cheeks. At the sight of her looking so crumpled and awful, I felt a bit of me give out, leaving me unable to form words. So I crushed her to my chest, sweeping her off her feet. "T-they-" She didn't finish, her words being cut off by a sob. Knowing how much she hated showing weakness, this must be bad. I slowly closed the door, sitting on the porch steps with her on my lap.

"Shh, it's ok, whatever this is, it's ok."

"M-my parents-" She didn't need to say anything else, I already understood. Yesterday, when the principal called our parents, only Sky showed up, with Uncle Zed. Her parents had responded the school with angry hisses that they were too embarrassed by the whole situation, and that they better keep it quiet or they'd be dealing with a lawsuit. Which meant they daren't drag their pompous asses to pick up their daughter from school. When I'd found out I wanted to punch them.

"Did you speak to them?" I was quiet, afraid I'd startle her. I'd never seen her look so delicate and fragile. All this time when I'd thought she was strong and impenetrable and nothing could bring her down, in reality all you needed was to turn the people she cared about against her. She nodded, still choking back sobs. Needing to make her feel better somehow, I started bringing my fingers through her hair.

"They said I- I was a disgrace to t-the family and that," a sob interrupted her words, before she forced herself to continue. "That they n-never wanted to see me in the house again."

"Oh, baby." After the initial shock made me say this, I couldn't force myself to speak up again, too distraught. All I wanted was a little while of peace, a moment's hesitation that would allow us to escape from all these awful things. I still hadn't figured out who'd framed us, although I was at least lucky that Sky and Zed had listened to me for long enough for me to explain myself. Althea had obviously not been as fortunate.

"But I don't care." She stuck her chin up, a determined look forming on her features. Through the tears and the pain, she struggled to put on a hard front. I chuckled lightly, without humour, then helped wipe some of her tears again.

"You don't need to lie. You're the strongest person I know, but even Achilles had his weakness in his heel."

"You don't understand though, I need to be strong. If I'm not strong, then what am I?"

"You're beautiful, and you _are_ strong, and you're witty, and you're so vibrant and so alive and so real." She didn't miss a beat, arguing back straight away with a broken look in her eyes..

"But how can I be all that when I'm hurt and so so so afraid?"

~~present again~~

My parents were coming tomorrow, and I didn't think they'd be as understanding as Zed and Sky had been. We were laying in my bedroom, a movie playing softly in the background so that if we needed a distraction badly we could talk about it. So far neither of us had paid it any attention, but I had a feeling it would come in handy soon.

"I don't know why. I just know that this is what we have to deal with. And, you know, it's not so bad. We get off school." I tried to reason, begging for a silver lining. Despite my words, I still couldn't see one.

"I'd rather be in school and have my parents and yours happy."

"I'd rather volunteer at an orphanage than be forced into community service and be looked at like criminals."

"I'd rather be punished without everyone thinking we vandalised school property. Maisee still isn't talking to me."

"We don't get to choose though." At this, she sat up, looking back at me with the saddest expression on her features.

"I know." Unfortunately, we both did.

A beat of silence made the atmosphere in the room feel heavy. She laid back down against my chest, as I kissed her temple, needing a distraction from all the sadness taking over our chests. Ally seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"So, this movie, it's pretty shitty, isn't it?"

 **Hi :)**

 **This chapter was a bit different than how I normally do things, so I was a bit nervous about doing it :/ But tell me what you thought :) I just wanted to like condense all the bad things that were happening in a sort of big BAM in their face xD**

 **Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, even though I did post this a bit late :/ I actually baked some cupcakes this morning, so you all get some ;) Can we get to 122 this chapter?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	29. Chapter 29

"Ally! Wait up!" Turning around, I found Ian jogging towards me, a worried frown marring his features. I didn't understand what he was doing here, I certainly hadn't invited him to stargaze with me. Although now I saw his features, drawn into a monochrome by the light of the moon, I wished I had.

"What're you doing here?"

"I decided to go stargazing. Guess we just got lucky, huh?"

"Well, lucky's one word for it." I told him, smirking in amusement. At my comment he simply rolled his eyes, but grabbed my hand anyway, towing me towards the centre of the clearing. Everything had been illuminated here by the soft glow of the moon, and I had to stop for a minute to admire the beauty, even though I'd seen it a million times before.

"You laying down or did you forget how to, babe?" I didn't bother replying to him, simply sitting down by his side. Normally we both lay side by side, looking at the stars. Now though it felt wrong, and my stomach was doing flops. Something was going awry, but I simply couldn't pinpoint what. "Babe?"

"What?" I mumbled, looking back at him from my curled up position. Knees drawn up to my chest, I tried to take in deep breaths. But everything simply felt like it shouldn't be there. Shadows started crowding me, and stars scraped against the night sky. Closing my eyes tightly shut, I brought my hands over my ears, but that did nothing to drown the ruckus out. It started thundering in my ears, making my head spin in circles. Ian was all but forgotten, the sounds encompassing all my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" But I didn't have it in me to explain to him that my parents had basically disowned me, that there was someone after us, that Maisee was annoyed at me, and that on top of it all these nightmares kept crowding me throughout the day. Pressure pressure pressure, just beating against my head. It sounded so pathetic, like I was a little girl dependant on a little boy and we were each other's little world. That only happened in storybooks. And this was anything but.

"Nothing is."

"Don't you dare." In some part of his mind, it must've seemed a good idea to push me over, and grab my wrists. The position somehow ended up with him pinning me to the ground, yet I didn't find it nearly as uncomfortable as it should've been. The thoughts kept roaring, and everything started to spin, the whole world taking on a dream like quality. But it was a nightmare.

"What should I not dare to do?" It was meant to come out like most of my replies did, slightly sardonic, with a tint of annoyance. However this was all washed out by how thick my voice sounded, giving away the tears that were accumulating in my eyes. Furiously trying to blink them away, I started shifting under Ian, hoping to distract him. Rolling over a few times, we finally came to a rest on the side of the meadow, and it was hard to tell who was who and why we'd ever been apart in the first place.

"Lie to me. I just want to help. You've been losing your fire. Is it... the thing?"

"I said I. Am. Fine." I said through gritted teeth, the lie coming much more forced than I'd wanted it to. Tears once again rushed to the surface, but they were too fast to be able to be stopped.

"Are you… Are you crying?"

"Fuck you Ian!" I screamed, once again struggling to get away from him.

"Maybe later babe." He winked, but it was lost on me. I continued to kick and scream, sobs escaping my mouth every other minute. I felt pathetic, like the lowest of human beings. But for some reason, that felt ok with Ian. I felt like he was the only human on this earth that I could do this with – that for once in my damn life it was ok to cry, to have angst in my chest and butterflies in my stomach. To simply full out admit that I felt as if I was going crazy. "Please Ally, please."

"Why are you even doing this?!" I shouted in his face, struggling to make my way out of the tangles and twists and turns our limbs had formed. However, he held tighter, somehow managing to pull me into his lap. He was so much taller than me that when he hunched his shoulders and pulled me in his chest, I was surrounded by Ian. My whole world was reduced to his heart beat under my ear, his rapid breathing on my head and his arms, tightening as if he'd never let go. For once, there wasn't any sound. And then he exploded.

"I'm doing this because I love you! Because I bloody fucking care about you ok Ally? I hate to see you doing this to yourself day in and day out, I hate seeing you slowly drift away, but most of all I fucking hate how you're always hiding behind sarcasm, and are too bloody stubborn to let me in!" Suddenly, as if he'd noticed he'd been speaking too loudly for the kind words escaping his mouth, he lowered his volume. But the effect of his words was the same, regardless of the expression of anger on his face, I knew he meant every single one. My heart stopped and then started back up again with a staccato rhythm that had me cursing Ian to hell and back for having this effect on me. "I care. I shouldn't and this is all wrong, yet I've never felt anything more right in my life. So please just… Just let me hold you." No anger remained, simply a soft whisper of words that sounded more like a plea than a demand. I'd never heard him sound so fragile before. His words were uncertain and scared, but he'd said them, just for me. So I did as he asked, letting the world fade away around us.

"I… I love you too." The sentence seemed to get stuck in my throat, as if it had been so long since I'd said it that my vocal cords didn't even remember how to form the sound anymore. "I care about you too damn much you fuck face. But there's just so much pressure, pounding against my head. People keep adding to it. I've got my parents wanting me to be the perfect daughter, school saying I should have perfect grades, Maisee telling me to have the perfect happiness. I'm _always_ followed by that fucking word – perfect. What if I don't want to be perfect? Why can't I just be Althea?" By the end of my rant my voice broke. I sounded fragile – I'd reverted back to a five year old asking their parents why there was such a thing as evil in this world. When really we already knew the answer to both my question and theirs – it's because we're human. "And then I've got the hallucinations hitting me randomly, which just make it even harder. Society doesn't deem having delusions as perfect."

"Well then let's be imperfect together. Let's have the messiest relationship anyone's ever had – but let's do it together." He then took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for something monumental. I stared at him confused, dried tear tracks marring my face, and didn't allow my mind to wander about the possibilities of what he would tell me. "Run away with me Ally." Immediately, I pulled back, confusion being all I knew. What was he on? We couldn't run away. "I'm sick of seeing you sad and I'm sick of everything. We just discovered we're soulfinders, but the world won't give us a break. So let's make a break for ourselves. I'm not saying we leave forever – see it as a vacation. Please Ally – you're breaking apart and so am I, I just want us to be free."

 **Hi :)**

 **I'm not even sure how this happened, I just started writing and suddenly they're running away haha. But don't worry, they'll still discover who framed them and everything like that soon, they're just going to have to be free for a bit first.**

 **We absolutely smashed the target last chapter, so thank you guys** ** _so_** **much for that, you're honestly such an important part of this story, cos without you I really wouldn't have the energy to keep writing haha. Can we get to 131 this chapter? That'd be amazing ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	30. Chapter 30

Althea's POV:

"Okay." I said, before I could really think through what I was saying.

"Really?" I could tell this was possibly the last answer he expected to hear from me, but I was so tired of the world, and Ian had just given me an escape route. So, smiling for the first time that night, I leaned in, kissing him softly.

"Really really."

After that it was a whirlwind of leaving notes, and grabbing essentials, and deciding on a route – until we agreed that we didn't really want to even know where we were heading. Ian's note to his uncles and parents was detailed and longwinded, all about how much he cared about them and that it was nothing personal. It made mine seem ridiculously short, as if I'd forgotten to hand in the other half. It simply said:

 **Don't miss me.**

I knew they weren't going to miss me anyway, but I'd left it for the benefit of my sisters, really. Although that in itself was stupid, considering they were all young, and wouldn't care after 3 days. So I stared down at the card in my hand, the black ink seeming too sharp and too real against its white background. I stared and stared and stared, hoping for something, without really knowing what.

Maybe I hoped that I hadn't been driven to do something as desperate as this. Maybe I hoped that this note really was necessary, that my parents would miss me. Maybe I hoped that if I ever did return, I'd be met with hugs and tears, instead of the cold façade that would greet me. Maybe I just hoped that this whole situation could've been different – that Ian and I could be happy without running away, that all of the things going wrong could be as minor as they seemed to the outside world.

I was ripped out of my swirling thoughts by a hand placed over mine. Glancing up, I saw Ian there, his brow furrowed with worry. Taking the note from my fingers – despite the fact that I'd been gripping it so hard my knuckles turned white – he read it quickly, then slotted it under the front door.

"Don't think about it so much. This is about running away from the bad things, not letting them keep chasing us."

"My legs hurt." It was the next morning, and Ian and I were decked out in hiking gear, ready to take on the challenge of 'running away'. Or a semi-permanent vacation, as we liked referring to it. However, not even 3 hours in, my legs were already killing me, making me moan about it as I kicked small rocks out of my way. From in front of me, Ian sighed, chucking me a packet of haribos. "You have candy?"

"Yeah, but I'm not giving it to you – we need to ration it."

"Oh come on, it surely won't be _that_ long until we reach civilisation." The only response I got was him turning his head slightly, looking at me with raised eyebrows. From that point onwards, silence prevailed, the sound of leaves and twigs crunching under our feet becoming thunderous. I preoccupied myself with munching on my sweets slowly, every once in a while passing one to Ian – with much reluctance, of course.

Truth be told, it wasn't too bad. Or perhaps that was my relief talking. No matter how much my feet hurt, or the bag on my back weighed me down, I'd gotten relieved of all the pressure I'd been under back home – and nothing, absolutely nothing, could dampen that feeling. 2 hours came and went, then 2 more, until night started casting its shadow on us. By that point I was dragging my feet, making leaves of every colour jump. So I didn't even notice as Ian stopped, dropping his bag carelessly on the floor.

"What?" I asked, as I crashed against him.

"We should probably set up camp here for the night." This made me furrow my eyebrows, not liking the sound of it one bit. I'd slept outside for 4 nights now, there was no way I'd condemn myself to a 5th.

"Wait, I thought we'd be sleeping in a hotel."

"Yeah but it's night time. There's no way we'll be reaching a hotel anytime soon."

"But- but-" I couldn't think of an excuse not to, apart from the fact that I was desperate to curl up in a warm bed.

"Come on it'll be fun." All he had to do to convince me was flash his contagious smile. He looked happy and free, so much so that I was reminded why we were doing this. Not for the comfort, nor for anything else, apart from finding that feeling of liberty. And we'd found it, so what did we care what we slept on? Clenching my jaw, I nodded.

"Alright, get the tent out."

When Ian had suggested we bring a tent and sleeping bags, he'd made pitching it sound so easy. His exact words had been 'we'll place it on the ground, and then we'll have a shelter'. What he _hadn't_ mentioned however, was the excruciating half hour that it would take us to set up the god damn thing. Nor that by the end of it my hair would be a disaster, Ian would have grass stains _everywhere_ , and it would already be so dark that we wondered why we hadn't brought a torch.

I wanted to strangle him, to say the least.

"Ian?" I whispered, the quiet of the night feeling too tight to be broken. I felt like at any point a crazy person would break in. In my meadow it was different – no one had ever gone there unless I'd instructed them on how, and I'd had the beautiful lighting of a sky full of stars. In the tent it felt as if I was suffocating, waiting with baited breath for the world to discover us. The fact that our families were probably searching for us now didn't help ease my panic.

"Yeah babe?"

"I can't find my sleeping bag." I continued to sift through the content of my bag, but the darkness made anything impossible to find. A sigh and some ruffling was heard, until Ian was beside me, slowly touching around to find my hands. Taking them into his grip, he moved them out of the way, delving into my bag with impatience and anxiousness, showing he was probably just as terrified as I was. It was stupid really, that we'd be more scared of sleeping in a shelter than out in the open. So I lay my head against his shoulder as he searched, hoping that we'd somehow both be comforted by the gesture. Under me, his tense shoulders relaxed.

"Here." Without bothering to give it to me, he opened it, spreading it on the ground. "Alright, let's get to sleep."

Once again, his words made the process seem much easier than it actually was. What felt like hours – but must've been just minutes – later, I was staring up at the ceiling of the tent, despite not being able to see anything. My body was too nervous to allow me to fall asleep, not to mention that the floor was lumpy. I was sure I was digging at least three different pinecones into my back. Every time I so much as moved a millimetre they dug deeper. We should've brought mats. Hell, it was on our to-bring list. But in the end we'd decided to only take essentials, and unfortunately mats had been deemed too bulky.

"Ally, shut up." His voice cut through the silence, startling me out of my reverie.

"Huh? I wasn't talking."

"You're thinking too loud." I scoffed in disbelief, glaring in his general direction, not even caring that he wouldn't be able to see. Maybe this soulfinder bond wouldn't be such a good thing, as it obviously made him more aware of my thoughts and feelings, which were quite turbulent at the moment, to say the least.

"I can't sleep, sorry your highness." Sarcasm practically dripping from my tone, I kept scowling in his vicinity, hoping he'd be able to feel the heat of my gaze.

"Why not?"

"I just- This whole thing is strange, isn't it? I'm feeling a mixture of excitement and trepidation, which is knotting my stomach and making me incapable of closing my eyes. I want to run out of the tent and conquer the world, whilst at the same time I want to cower in a corner. It's so… Unnerving."

"Come here." He mumbled, reaching towards me. Pulling me gently until our sleeping bags were pressed together, his arms wound tight around me. "Stop worrying. It's not like you."

"This whole thing isn't like me."

"Are you kidding? What's more Althea-esque than going on an uncharted adventure to the middle of nowhere in hopes of finding freedom along the way?" At his words I laughed, although it was breathy and sounded too tight. Burying my face in his chest, I smiled. Even if we didn't know where we were, and the floor was still lumpy, and I felt as if we could be attacked anytime soon, I melted into the embrace, relishing in the feeling of his skin against mine. "Just think of all the things we're going to be able to do."

"Like what?" I felt like a child, listening in for story-time. I didn't mind though, with Ian right beside me, and his soothing voice in my ear, nothing mattered.

"We can go down to the beach. We'll learn to surf, and build our own little place right by the shore. On nights when the weather will be too stuffy, we'll get out some hammocks, and sleep under the refuge of the stars." Smiling at the beautiful image he was painting in my mind, I opened my mouth, continuing on with the tale.

"Or we can go deep into the woods, living off of wild berries and our own little vegetable patch. Soon enough we'll look like we belong there – with wild hair and torn clothes. But that won't matter, because when anyone looks at our faces, they'll see wide grins, and they'll know we've discovered something they'll never be able to attain. Pure, unbridled joy, that isn't dampened by expectations and pressure."

"Or we can get our own house, in a quiet suburban neighbourhood where everyone likes each other. When we move in the neighbours will give us pies and potted plants, and we won't really understand where their hospitality comes from, but no one will question it. We'll need to get jobs, but we won't care, because we're next to each other, and people won't bother us with stupid ideas of what a perfect household should look like."

"Or… we can be happy." At my comment he chuckled, joining our lips for a chaste kiss. I could feel his grin against my skin, as he trailed down to my ear.

"We'll do that no matter what." With that, he shifted back, settling me on his chest and into a more comfortable position. I sighed in content, feeling completely happy, even though we were running away from everything we ever knew. He was right, it was stupid of me to be this worried. I was Althea, and that meant I had a fire inside me which begged me to do things like these. Just because I was leaving behind a difficult situation, didn't mean I'd have to worry about it. I wasn't between a rock and a hard place – I was between rock and an uncharted paradise. The tent didn't feel suffocating anymore, it felt like we were floating, 6 feet above the ground, and the expanse of the world at our feet, just waiting to be conquered by us. "Go to sleep babe."

"I don't wanna." He chuckled, his chest vibrating against my ear.

"Try." His heartbeat against my ear slowly drove all the other sounds out – crickets and grass bristling, and anything else that seemed too quiet but at the same time to loud. His steady breathing was quick to match up with mine, relaxing me even further. Without me even realising, I fell into a dream, Ian guiding me there. Before I drifted off, I felt his lips against my temple, making a lazy smile pull up the corners of my lips. "Sweet dreams."

 **Hi :)**

 **And so begins their adventure! I'm so excited about writing all of this, I'm not even kidding, it's going to be great ^.^ Also, to the guest who's wondering, yes, Ian's parents still intend on going down to Colorado. In fact, they came in just as Ian and Althea left. You'll find out more about that next chapter though. I hope you all liked it :) Althea's feeling kind of doubtful at the start, but she won't take long to warm up to the idea, don't worry :)**

 **Thanks so much for your amazing response to last chapter, I'm so glad you all liked it! Can we get to 138 reviews this chapter? I'd love it so much if you could. Thanks for all the reviews, and I'll see you in 3 days :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	31. Chapter 31

I was woken up by kisses, slow and languid along my neck. At the pressure of Ian's lips against my skin, I sighed in content, leaning into his touch.

"You awake babe?" He asked, his voice husky with sleep. I'd never heard anything hotter. So, needing to see his face, I rolled over, opening my eyes lazily. Ian lay there, a small smile making his features look happy and light. His grey eyes practically sparkled, all the worry that had been making them turbulent having cleared. They looked like polished silver, glistening in the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the tent, no longer resembling a troubled storm.

"Barely." I whispered back, struggling to keep my eyes open. So far, the only incentive I had was being able to gaze at his carefree features, enjoying how he was almost glowing. But then I realised I could see this expression anytime I wanted now, and with a broad smile, I nuzzled into his chest, intending to fall straight back asleep.

"Come on, we need to keep going soon."

"Five more minutes." Grumbling, I attached myself to him, wrapping my arms around his torso.

"I've calculated that we probably need to walk another 9 km today, so I suggest we don't stay for another 'five' minutes."

"But baaaaaabe." I could already feel his resolve waning, as he returned the hug, placing a kiss on my cheek. Out of his line of sight, I smiled wickedly, knowing I had him. "I'm just so comfortable here."

"Althea-" He started protesting, so I shut him up, kissing him for all I was worth. By the time I pulled away, he and I were both panting, my body fizzing with electricity only Ian knew how to charge. His hand rested on my hip, pulling up the fabric of my t-shirt up ever so slightly to run his fingers along the slit of exposed skin. I shivered at the contact, wanting more than ever to stay right here – for ever, if it meant embracing Ian and being the subject of his ministrations.

"Have I mentioned I love you?"

"Just a bit, yeah." Chuckling, he tucked a strand of hair that had fallen into my face. I could barely restrain myself this time, as I jumped out of my sleeping bag, and into Ian's, straddling him.

"Well I do." I didn't have much time to say this is, Ian's kisses being too distracting to get the words out. Soon his hands were wandering over my back and stomach, as I copied his actions. After a while, I got tired of his shirt constantly getting in the way, so I tugged at it, only allowing Ian to separate our lips for a second to remove it. My body felt as if it was on fire, only being able to think of him.

"We really do need to go." His words were distorted around my mouth, as I hummed in reply. Neither of us made a move towards the door, simply continuing. This time though we had a certain impatient edge to our actions, our movements becoming frantic and our kisses more fervent. What felt like only seconds later, but could've easily been hours, Ian pulled away.

"What?" His chest was rising in an erratic rhythm, his eyes closed almost painfully tight. I watched on, unsure what to do with myself, now that he'd stopped us from making out.

"You're killing me." Finally, it made sense, making me smirk. I kissed him just below his earlobe, teasing him just a little bit further. At his groan, I pulled back, sliding off him.

"Fine, let's get ready." I expected it to get awkward after that, I really did, but Ian and I seemed to have a knack for saving ourselves from situations like those. We were quick to get in an argument about who should be in charge of candy distribution, our heated kiss from before being all but forgotten.

It was hot, much too hot for a day in spring. Ian had taken off his shirt a while back, claiming that there was no one around anyway. I certainly didn't mind the view. He was striding ahead of me, using a long stick to remove any stinging nettles from the way so we'd be able to pass despite our shorts. Yesterday we'd mostly gone along footpaths, but today had been wholly different, treading through roots and having to zigzag around trees. I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and altogether not enjoying the experience of hiking. Especially with the sticky weather.

I was tempted to take off my own shirt – both because of the heat and to rebel against the fact that Ian could be cool whilst I had to suffer simply for being a girl. But that idea quickly dissipated, as the sound of rushing water made its way to our ears. We stopped in our tracks, eyeing each other with subdued excitement, too tired to really be properly happy.

"Water!" I screeched, running off in the direction I heard it coming from. A laughing Ian followed me close behind, catching up to me. His long strides meant he could've passed me easily, yet he adjusted his pace so that we were going at the same speed. The only difference was that I was sprinting, and he looked like it was a light jog. The stream wasn't all that hard to find, but unfortunately quite shallow. I had to hide my pout at the sight of it – stepping in it would probably not even make my ankles wet.

"That can't be right, we heard running water, this really wouldn't make that much noise." He was thinking out loud, not even bothering to hear my response before he started walking again, following the stream. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I started walking too, but not before splashing myself with some of the crystalline water.

"Wait up!"

So it went, Ian walking again a few steps in front of me, whilst I sulked behind. Now we'd revered the decrease in temperature that the stream provided, I'd gone back to being too hot, and very tempted to remove a layer of clothing. By that point it didn't matter which. Although I had to admit that at least we were in the shade of the trees, which provided some sort of comfort.

When Ian screamed in utter elation, I was confused as to what all the happiness was about. I'd kept my gaze on the stream for some time now, it being the only part of the forest interesting to look at. Everything else was either leaf-green or moss-green, which at first was pretty but in the end turned out to be not too easy on the eyes. Lifting my eyes, I found that Ian had finally found what he'd been looking for: a waterfall, albeit very small, that led onto a pool of water, infinitely deeper than the brook. I felt I could scream too.

"Cannonball!" He shouted, taking a running leap straight into the water. He didn't bother even removing his shorts, which I was sure he'd regret later. I followed suit, although I made sure to pause before I went in to put a bag over my cast. We really couldn't afford to have to go to a hospital to get my cast changed.

The cold water surrounded me, making me feel better than I'd done in _hours_. The sweat that had accumulated on my nape was cleared, the hot sticky feeling everywhere removed, and I felt as if I could rule the world. Ian swam over, as he picked me up and hugged me to his chest.

"We're free." He whispered in my ear – and I knew he wasn't just referring to the unbearable heat. So I grinned, one of my crazy, uncontrollable grins, and tugged him out of the water, leading him to the top of the waterfall. It wasn't much of a vantage point, as it wasn't very tall, but I didn't care. Spreading my arms wide, I was on top of the world.

"We're free!" Shouting out the words in a proclamation of my happiness, I stood there, the whole world underneath me. We were dripping wet, and the heat was starting to settle back in, and we probably had to walk another mile. But we were free.

And in that moment, nothing mattered – we were infinitely happy and here. Right here. In our own little spot of the world.

 **Hi :)**

 **So just a really fluffy chapter, cos it's my birthday and I was in the mood to be happy :D I mean it won't last much longer, seeing how they can't live in their own little world forever, but we can pretend they are ;)**

 **We reached the target! You're all so lovely, your reviews make me so happy :3 Can we get to 144? Also, if we get that, we'll have passed my other story, Fixing Petal, which is super exciting, so I'll be giving yo guys another special chapter! I don't know what it'll be about, but rn I'm feeling a wedding, which was one of the Guests' suggestions last time ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	32. Chapter 32

Ian's POV:

I watched as the water rippled under my fingertips, forming dazzling patterns. However, that wasn't what I was focusing on, too engrossed in my thoughts. Ever since we'd run away, Ally and I had been together, meaning I hadn't had time to sort through the mass of tangled thoughts in my mind. Even at night, when the world had quietened down to a lot hum, the only sound heard for miles being Althea's snores, I hadn't allowed myself to truly think about how I felt about this whole situation.

Now thought I'd woken up early, Ally looking so peaceful in her sleep that I hadn't dared wake her up, I had a few hours of quiet. It was stupid though, really, because I finally had time to sort everything out, but I was too afraid to. A simple glance at my thoughts had me practically trembling in fear – none of them were happy.

Sure, this escapade had been what her and I needed more than anything. If we'd stayed I was certain we'd swirl down in a spiral of incurable sadness. But this didn't feel like the solution either. Even if it was, I had doubts about the whole thing. For starters, we hadn't seen civilization in 3 days, and I was starting to worry that we wouldn't find it in time. We only had food for a few more days, I couldn't help but think that perhaps we should've planned this a lot more, instead of wondering off into a forest that grew thicker with every step.

This wasn't the only thing that troubled me though. All my life I'd been what everyone else had wanted me to be – Ian the jock, Ian the perfect son. But now that we weren't around people, and I had chosen to never let other's opinions of me sway my decisions again, I was unsure as to who I _actually_ was. What did the real Ian like? Ian the jock liked football, and Ian the ideal son enjoyed walks in the park and studied despite there being no need to. But I had no actual tastes, nothing I truly enjoyed doing with all my heart. I liked spending time with Ally, sure, but I couldn't help but feel that defining myself completely by the person I loved wasn't good enough. Because then, who did she love? An empty shell of a human being whose sole job was to be around her?

I knew this was foolish, that I didn't need a hobby to express myself through. I was still me, my personality didn't need to be defined by specific categories and traits. I guessed I was just doing the 'get to know myself' crap that everyone else gets to skip, as their personalities are so worn and so known by them that they didn't need to sit by a pool and think about it carefully. Most people didn't need to stare off into rippling water, wondering what 'me' meant.

After a while, I was joined by Ally, who wrapped her arms around me without saying a word. It was as though she could sense the heaviness of the moment, how close I was to coming to an epiphany, despite not being near one at all. It simply felt like I was, all these new thoughts and discoveries about myself making it seem as if I was close to something big. In reality I'd merely taken a baby step towards untangling the massive mess that my personality was.

Looking down at Ally's eyes, I knew she understood what her personality was. She didn't define herself, or place herself in society's neatly designed boxes, but she still knew who she was, loathsome as she was to admit it. She was brave and strong. She was childish and impulsive. She thought it was important to put your wellbeing above others' – unless of course she deemed she cared for them, in which case she'd do anything to keep them happy and unravel all which made them melancholic.

In comparison, I felt so uncharted and so unknown. Was I strong, with hard features and powerful words? Or was I weak, cowering in a forest whilst I waited for the storm to blow past? Was I impulsive, with ideas of running away forever – or was I cautious, planning meals for a week and worrying about the direction we were heading? Who even was I?

"Stop thinking so loud." She reprimanded, copying my words from a few nights ago. I couldn't help but smile, despite the thoughts raging in my mind.

"I can't help it."

"You're worrying about all this, aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question, an accusatory tone behind it all. We were supposed to go into this completely carefree, living our life to the fullest. Yet here I was, staring at my reflection in the water and wondering if all I was was grey eyes and dark hair – my appearance, and little else.

"I can't help it." I didn't seem capable of saying any other words, my tongue feeling heavy and my feelings even more so.

"Do you mind if I slip into that head of yours?" My gift of making others' gifts stronger had seemed to make Althea a stronger savant the longer we spent together, which meant our bond grew stronger too. This allowed us to feel each other's minds easily, without the need for a savant power for mind reading. Knowing I wouldn't be able to express my turmoil coherently, I nodded, feeling her mind brush against mine softly.

All at once, she retreated, a hiss in the form of a startled gasp leaving her lips. I hung my head, a feeling of dread washing over me. I'd never heard her sound shocked before, only seeing mild surprise on her features. Now though she was staring at me, wide eyed and unmoving, like the whole world hung in the balance.

"Ian…" Ally whispered, her hand reaching out seemingly by instinct, her eyes too dazed to show that she was controlling her actions. "That isn't true at all."

"What?" This wasn't what I expected her to say. She was always so lively, animatedly letting out a tumble of words that somehow pushed me into being exuberant myself. Her excitement was gone, replaced with a gentleness that shocked me. I at once remembered what I thought before, about how Ally might be quick to do things, consequences be damned, but when it came to those she cared about, she wasn't so hasty and willing.

"You _are_ your own person. You're brave, this whole adventure wouldn't have even come to be if it weren't for you. You're charming, knowing where to put words so anyone who hears them loves you. You're pensive, way too much sometimes, as we've seen from this situation." She pauses, a pregnant silence sitting between us. "You're not impulsive, but that's why the only way you can get a little feeling of relief is from doing things like these – when all you do in life is plan and think, letting go of all of it is the way to a break from everything. You're Ian Benedict, 100%, and you don't need to characterise yourself with predesigned traits to know who you are. You're you. You're the person I fell irrevocably in love with – do you really think I'd fall for someone as empty as you describe yourself as?" I stared at her, different feelings coursing through my veins. The main one however, was of love. There was still doubt and fear and everything in between, yet that didn't matter. Ally had shown me how she viewed me, as this wonderful person I couldn't even fathom myself as, and nothing in the world was more beautiful. Perhaps to me I was only an empty shell, whose insides had been changed up so many times that they were scrambled, yet in her eyes I was something worth caring for.

And in that second, I swore I could feel myself falling for her all over again.

Feeling the intensity of my gaze, she cleared her throat, looking down at the water too. Then, a mischievous smile pulled up the corners of her lips, making her once again the Ally that she was most of the time. In one movement, she pushed me into the water, soaking me straight through my clothes.

"Ally! These are my only dry pair of pants!"

"Don't whine just 'cos you lost." She taunted, still with that crazy smile of hers, her eyes gleaming.

"What the hell did I lose? It isn't a game." At the word 'game', her whole face lit up, even more so than before, which I'd previously thought impossible. I felt my heart swell in my chest, knowing that I was enough to put that joyful look on her features and keep it there.

"Sure it is. Now let's see if you can redeem yourself and catch me." And there it was. Ally wouldn't be her if she didn't resolve our moment of silent pensiveness with a shrill laugh and ridiculous game. I supposed I wouldn't be Ian if I didn't jump out of the water straight away, chasing after her retreating form. We wouldn't be Althea and Ian if we didn't make our way up to the waterfall, pushing one another off the edge together.

Even though it was pitiful and sad to define myself using the person I loved, I needed to admit to myself that she'd been pivotal to reaching this point, where I even felt the need to define myself at all. For a second I let myself imagine that she too described herself using me – that we were so much a part of each other's world that it was impossible to define one without somehow getting onto the other.

 **Hi :)**

 **Self discovery chapter time! Haha xD But I gave you guys a happy bit at the end to compensate for all the shit that's about to go down. I'll give you a hint, it has to do with all the problems waiting for them back home ;) But dw, it won't be anything** ** _too_** **bad**

 **We passed the goal! And I got tons of birthday wishes, which was so lovely, thank you all so much xx To the Guest who asked, I'm turning 16.**

 **I'd love it if we can reach 150, and the next chapter to go up will be the special celebratory chapter, cos we've passed the review count of Fixing Petal. Which is so exciting it's unreal, cos it means I'm getting better at this writing thing, yay! I'm in an exclamation mark mood haha. Also, just as a warning, I'm on holiday so I won't be able to update as much anymore, but I'll** ** _try_** **to keep up the chapter every 3 days routine thing we've got going on**

 **Bye bye xx**


	33. Another Special Chapter!

[10 years in the future]

Our daughter, Kaia, walked between Ian and I, holding both our hands tight. She was only 4, so the simple action of swinging our hands made her giggle uncontrollably. We were on our way to a toy store, with the promise of a spending an evening lazily, going through it with little achievement and only fun to fill the hours. I was looking forwards to it, even though a few years ago I would've made fun of anyone who told me they were going out to a toy store with no intention of buying anything.

My little girl had made me change my opinion, when I discovered that flashing lights and toys on display were enough to make her eyes light up for hours. The look of absolute glee in her eyes reminded me of the one I so loved in Ian's own, so I would do close to anything to get it there - even spend a few hours pointlessly at the toy store.

"Mummy, are toys there?"

"Yes, hun." She already knew the answer, but she liked asking questions just to hear me say the answers. Ian shot me an amused look, making me stick my tongue out at him.

"And, mummy, barbies?"

"Unfortunately." The minute the word left my mouth, Ian used his free hand to swat at me, causing me to laugh.

"Don't listen to your mum, barbies are very pretty." He assured her, ruffling her hair affectionately. Of course, Kaia was too young to really understand the dispute, so she smiled one of her toothy, overly happy smiles, and kept on skipping. The grin caused her right cheek to dimple, and I had to restrain myself from squealing over her. She was too adorable sometimes. She had dark hair, like both Ian and me, and the most beautiful grey eyes - which, coincidentally, were the same colour as Ian's. I'd tried to convince her to keep her hair short, but she liked torturing me so she'd kept it long. Although I didn't mind it, despite all the times I jokingly complained, as it meant we had half an hour each night in which I combed through her locks, simply enjoying each other's company.

"Ok daddy."

The second we walked through the doors of the toy store, Kaia whizzed away from us screaming about getting to the barbies. Ian laughed, until I glared at him, which sent him running towards our daughter.

"Kaia, honey, wait up!" Now it was my turn to laugh, as I watched Ian scramble after a 4 year old, creating quite the humorous image. She slipped between the aisles, screeching in joy as she went. Her pigtails flapped behind her, waving goodbye to Ian like a handkerchief. "Babe, think you could help me out a bit?" He panted, leaning over. Nodding, I placed a kiss on his cheek, starting the chase myself.

However, just as I passed the pirate's aisle at a sprint, I found her. She was staring at one of the foam swords, almost in a trance. Ian caught up with me quick, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"What's she doing?" I shrugged, not really knowing the response to that myself. "Should we just leave her to it?"

"What do you mean?" Not letting me get another word out, he kissed me, pushing me up against the shelf. A toy dug into my back, but I wasn't really aware of it, much. It was the effect Ian always had on me, which was stupid, because our daughter was a few metres away and this was really inappropriate and we'd been together for more than 10 years now. Yet the minute I smelt his aftershave, or his arms went around me, the ridiculousness of it ceased to matter - he was here and I didn't care about anything. Anything.

"Mummy! Gross!" Moaned Kaia from beside us, making me pull away. I took a second to regain my breath as I looked at her. The foam sword was now clutched tightly in her hands, a fierce expression on her features. She was trying to be intimidating, but instead came out adorable. There was a tuft of hair that stood on end, so with a giggle, I patted it down.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"You put your lips together!"

"Well, yes, but-" I stuttered out, not sure how to dispel that emotion of disgust from her features. "But it's because mummy and daddy love each other _very_ much." From behind me, Ian hugged me again, placing his lips on my ear.

"Very very much." He whispered to me, making me shiver in response.

 _Ian, stop it, I don't want to traumatise Kaia!_

 _But we haven't kissed in a while._

 _Since last night, you mean._

 _Exactly. You're a monster for making me wait that long._ I rolled my eyes at this, slapping him lightheartedly. Crouching down, I went to take the sword from her tight grip. I was sure my eyes were still sparkling with amusement

"No, I want buy it!" She ripped my hands away, pressing it against her chest. "I really really like it mummy."

"But we didn't come here to buy anyth-" Ian halted me in my tracks, coming up beside me with his own sword in tow. They looked so silly in that moment, each with their own eccentric expression on their faces - Kaia with a fierce frown and Ian with a goofy smile. I laughed, hard and loud, whilst they face off.

"If you want the sword, young pirate, then you must win against me at a duel!" Kaia cocked her head at him, not really knowing what he meant. Ian, used to this, hurried to make himself clearer. "Fight me, princess!"

"Ok daddy." Her scowl turned into a bright grin, the dimple appearing. And even though we were going to make a mess - knowing what we were like - and this was probably not the best way to resolve this issue, I couldn't help but let a smile slip onto my features too. Ian took the first jibe, pretending he was charging against her. We could both tell he wasn't going to so much as touch her, but she still jumped back, spinning away from him.

"Come back here, coward." She did, sticking her sword out with exaggerated force. Ian let it graze his side, groaning and falling on the floor. "No! I've been hurt!" With a dramatic flourish, he placed his hand on his head, shutting his eyes. By that point I was kneeling on the floor, peels of laughter rendering me useless. "Tell mummy I… love her."

"Oh get up, you dramatic oaf." I told him, kicking his side lightly. Kaia watched him carefully, almost unsure as to whether he was pretending or not. One of his eyes opened, mirth gleaming in his eyes.

"But I'm _your_ dramatic oaf _._ "

"Are you ok?" Kaia leaned over him, pressing her hands against his cheeks. All Ian did in response was close his eyes again, although the smirk remained on his features, as if nothing could remove it. After a few seconds, this seemed too much for her, as she began tapping his cheek with more force. "Wake _up_." With a growl, Ian got up in one fluid movement, taking Kaia with him. She shrieked, first in surprise, and then in laughter, giggles leaving her uncontrollably.

"I'm taking the little princess prisoner, _forever_." He said, in an ominous tone. Knowing I was supposed to play along, I picked up one of the discarded swords, pointing it at Ian's jugular. Kaia was now hanging upside down on his back, being held by her waist on his shoulder. The scene was too sweet to miss it by joining in, but I'd already had enough of being a spectator.

"Surrender, evil wizard, or be prepared to face the wrath of Althea!"

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared." Forgetting for a second that we were playing with a little girl that had yet to understand the concept of sarcasm, he said the joke, winking at me. Pissed at him for making a joke at my expense, I launched myself forward, sending us all sprawling. Ian was quick to move everyone around so we all landed on his chest.

"Don't mess with me." I warned, poking his chest.

"I wouldn't dare." He assured me, winking again. Kaia groaned next to me, complaining about the fall. Then, after she deliberated for a second, she seemed to decide that it was cool, rather than annoying, and started yelling about doing it again. "Ok hun, how about we go back home and we do it on the trampoline, so I don't destroy my back again?"

"Ok, ok!" She excitedly jumped up, gesturing wildly that we should get going. I was going to sigh in relief, thanking all my stars that she wasn't insisting on buying the swords, but knowing my daughter, I shouldn't jinx myself just yet. However, Ian proved to be the irresponsible one this time, as he picked up 3 swords from the box.

"But first, let's get these."

"Ian, no."

"Aw, come on babe, we had fun."

"We already have so many toys at home!"

"The more the better. And they're only like 2 dollars anyway." Rubbing a hand down my face tiredly, I resignedly nodded.

"Fine. Jesus, I swear I'm living with two little kids."

"Am not!" They both shouted at the same time, pouting at me. It caused me to burst out laughing, as I kissed their cheeks. And so, with the most handsome man, and the cutest little girl in the world in tow, I made my way back home. Sometimes I wondered how I'd gotten this lucky, but then I looked at their beautiful grey eyes, and wicked smiles, and I realised I didn't want to ask that question. It was enough to enjoy it, and be completely, irrevocably happy.

 **Hi :)**

 **Ok, I don't have much time to write a note, cos my computer's on 5% battery, but thank you all so much for your reviews xx This is the special chapter I promised, I hoped you liked the sneak peak of their future ;) Can we get to 143 this chapter? Thank you all so much! Also, next chapter there will be more info about the new story I'll be posting, which I promised ages ago which would be about Aubrey. I swear that** ** _will_** **be coming out soon**

 **Bye bye xx**


	34. Chapter 34

Ian's POV:

Day 4. The morning started slow, with drooping eyelids and lazy smiles. Althea squinted at me, looking at me with tired adoration. I couldn't help but return the gesture, whilst patting down some of her hair which now stood on end. It made her look softer around the edges, like she wasn't the quick-witted person she was whilst awake. Savouring the moment, I kissed her.

Her eyes were still glazed over with sleep, so she took a while to respond. Even when she did, her lips were clumsy against mine. It made me smile as I pulled back.

"G'morning." She mumbled.

"Morning. Wanna do something today?" Squinting at me, a look of confusion permeated her features, as if it was too early to understand simple questions. It was so adorable that I sneaked another kiss, this time on her cheek.

"What d'ya mean?"

"I mean what I said, Ally."

"Well that's not very specific." She grumbled, making me smile even broader.

"I was asking if you want to do anything today." I finally gave up, the puppy dog look in her eyes, mixed with her annoyance, being strong enough to break my resolve. Teasing her was entertaining, but I didn't have the energy needed this early on in the day. She seemed much more awake now, nodding in understanding.

"We should probably find civilisation. Surprised she was actually being responsible for once, I placed a hand on her forehead, feigning worry.

"You? Responsible? Do you have a fever?" My comment made her let out a loud guffaw of laughter, eyes twinkling in amusement. I couldn't help but quirk my lips up in response, the smile on her face being too enchanting not to.

"We ran out of candy."

"Ah, and there's the girl I know and love."

"Oh shut it, you idiot."

"Come on, you love me really." She glared at this, making me chuckle.

"No I don't."

"Sure you do."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh." Realising I'd need to go into more effective tactics, I rose my hands up, placing them on her hips. For a second, she relaxed into the touch, until I dug my fingers into her side. She screeched with laughter, trying to swat my hands away, whilst I held fast. "Now, tell me how much you love me."

"Never!" She slammed both her hands over mine, but we were both laughing. Everything was right in the world. Looking down, I noticed she was wearing one of my t-shirts, which came down to mid-thigh. I forgot all about how we were teasing each other, swallowing hard. Her whole being was bewitching, which I supposed made sense, considering she was my soulfinder, but somehow always managed to take me by surprise. So I kissed her, my whole being yearning for one thing only. Her.

The rest of the morning passed like that, with us cuddling in the tent which blocked out the rest of the world, lazy kisses being shared between us.

Unknown POV:

"Um, sir?" A voice called out to me, making me turn slowly in my spot. I'd been stood in front of the window, staring out at the vast forest which spread before me.

"What is it, Cline?" He shuffled in front of me, nervously fiddling with his hands. He was the savant assistant I'd hired to help me find the pesky Benedicts. He'd come with great promise, but it had soon turned out that his gift for tracking wasn't up to par. His eyes were sunken in his face, his hair combed back to hide the bald spot there. He had yet to discover that looking like a bad guy was really not advantageous at all.

"Do you, uh, remember when I lost the Benedict boy and his girlfriend?" I felt my eye twitch, but forced myself to calm down. If I scared him before he gave me the new information then he'd be too frightened to tell me. The threatening would have to come later.

"Unfortunately."

"Yes, well, I do believe I have a lead."

"Oh?"

"They're deep in the forest. If I had to guess I'd say they're hiding from us. Their minds are shielding very strongly, it was lucky I found them at all." A smile creeped onto my face at his words, my eyes gleaming.

"And you're certain that I can use them to blackmail my dear old Petal?"

"I think so, sir."

"Then bring in the attack savant. We have work to do."

Ian's POV:

"Ian, are we there yet?" Ally moaned from behind me, dragging her feet. Since we'd started the hike a few days ago she'd been consistently behind me, whether this was from laziness or having shorter strides than me, I didn't know. Either way, with all the complaining she was doing, this had turned out to be fun. Freeing, above all else. This whole excursion had given me a feeling of soaring high above the clouds, holding Althea's hand as we took over the world.

"You'll know when we are."

"Well how much longer then?"

"God, how should I know?" Speaking this made me feel deflated, the harsh truth that we had no idea where we were going becoming obvious. Sure, this was liberating, but not everything had turned in our favour. However, Ally seemed more affected than me. She stopped. The action made me turn towards her, curiously glancing down at where she sat, her head in her hands. "Ally, hey, I know it's tough but we can do it." I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, conveying all the calm I didn't feel. In these past few days I'd learnt how to be better at comforting her. The same as she'd done with me.

However, after a beat of silence, it became obvious that she wasn't appreciating my words. I kneeled beside her, taking her chin in my hand. When I tilted her face up, I expected to see blatant disgust over this whole thing. Maybe even defeat, or annoyance at me for screwing up. But what I saw instead was so so much worse. It was bad enough for the whole world to halt on its axis, freezing as I stared at Ally with all the fear and trepidation I'd ever felt.

"Ally? Ally, oh god, no." We'd gone through this thousands of times before: when her eyes blanked I took her into my arms and rocked her until she came back. This time though it had been so long since it had happened, and she looked so much more… Empty. I didn't know what to do, how to help her. Her eyes were rolled back, her body stiff in the position she'd placed herself in before her mind took over. And simply grazing her mind sent me recoiling away from her, the turmoil and energy within being too strong for me to bear.

"Ian…" Snapping out of it at the sound of her voice, I went into action. This time was no different than before, I tried to console myself. I didn't even believe that myself. Taking her into my arms, I hushed her, slowly rocking her in hopes that she'd remember her bearings.

"It's ok babe, I've got you. It's ok." Once again, I barely believed this myself. After the longest 10 minutes of my life, Ally came back to me, choking a gasp out.

"Ian." This was the only word she got out before she collapsed in my arms. It was said in such a way that left me slumping in relief too. Somehow I knew she'd escaped from that dangerous place, and that this was different.

She'd survived another one, so, like always, I should leave it be, and relish in the feeling of her being safe. But I was curious, and she was asleep, and I wanted to share some of her pain. So I slipped into her mind.

Immediately I was bombarded by images of what she'd just lived through. She'd seen the forest through the distorted lens of her eyes, twigs turning into claws that reached in to kill us. Leaves glowed bright green, overtaking her vision so much that she was blinded momentarily. And when she'd looked at me she'd glanced at red, hot and boiling, and she'd felt like she was being burnt, drowning in my presence.

The hallucinations hadn't faded out gradually, they'd just halted and vanished without a trace. Leaving only the exhausted and broken form of the girl I loved.

At once, I knew what I had to do.

Taking down all of my shields in one quick motion, I hoped Victor would be as alert as I thought he would.

 _Ian!_ The first voice to enter my head was my mum's, elation fizzling down the connection. Despite our dispute, and all the problems we'd had to face, I smiled. I wished I could stay in Ally and my small place in this world. But at the same time I longed for home, for a deep hug from my mum and a devilish smile from my dad. For a warm bed and even warmer hot chocolate. For air conditioning during the day. For us to be able to be together without hiding out in the forest worrying about the direction we were heading and how much time would pass before we found our next source of food.

 _Mum, I'm sorry. Please find us._ The telepathic communication must've been strong enough to rouse Ally, as she started to stir in my arms.

"Ally, I called my parents. They'll be able to help you." Her eyes crinkled with some semblance of sadness, but also with that inexplicable happiness that i'd felt moments before.

"See?" She began, a tired smile on her features. "I told you you were the careful type." And with that she fell back asleep, whilst I waited for the rescue. I knew it'd take them a while, even by car, so I settled against a tree, enjoying the last of our solitude. Even with everything, the weight of her in my arms, and her soft snores were enough to drive the worry away. She was here and she was safe. That was all I'd ever need.

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry for last chapter's hurried A/N, also, I thought I should mention, that the goal was 153, not 143 xD Not my best moment, not going to lie haha. And the main villain has been introduced! I mean I guess you can all tell who it is, cos I made it pretty obvious, but now you've gotten the answer of what was causing Ally's hallucinations.** ** _How_** **they're being caused will be told soon, worry not ;)**

 **I loved all your wonderful reviews, thank you so much! And so, without further ado (is that how you spell that? I dunno), I present to you, info about Aubrey!**

 **The story will most likely come out in this next week (if not, you all have permission to lynch me xD ), and I already have the summary. It's a bit different than what I said it would be, but y'know.**

 **Aubrey's been suffering from anxiety ever since she knew what the term anxiety meant. However, no one knows this, as she's so scared and so mortified of people judging her for it. After all, her mum had to go through a living hell, and came out all the stronger from it, whilst she crumbles under the slightest stress. Dean is a happy-go-lucky, confident teenager, who knows nothing of worry... at least that's what he tries to convince the world of. When Aubrey is put completely out of her comfort-zone, she finds herself drawn to Dean, in an attempt to absolve her worry. So what will happen when they discover that Aubrey's scared, but Dean is too?**

 **It'll take place in a summercamp, and will be featuring tons of little kids, which I hope I'll do justice :D Tell me what you think!**

 **Bye bye xx**


	35. Chapter 35

Althea's POV:

The next few hours passed in a blur. Sometimes my eyes closed without me asking them too. Other times they stubbornly refused to do so, as I begged them to pass this excruciating time in oblivious sleep, rather than painful consciousness. At least while asleep I didn't have time to think and rethink all the possible outcomes of Ian's family coming for us. For starters, what if they discovered that something was really, incorrigibly wrong with me? Not to mention how much they'd hate me, which they were bound to do, considering people usually took a while to warm up to me. My sarcastic words and cold exterior didn't exactly inspire people to like me.

"Babe, you doing alright?" Ian asked, tucking a flyaway lock of hair behind my ear. We'd been in the same potion for hours, me wrapped in his arms, our limbs tangled together. It was my favourite place in the world, right here, with his heart beating strongly under my ear and his lips close enough to kiss.

"Yeah, of course." His sigh resonated throughout me, whilst his eyes flitted across my face. He was giving me a mix between a curious look and an accusatory one.

"Don't lie. It's ok."

"I'm sure you have your own worries. It doesn't matter."

"Try me." After a particular harsh glare from me, he rolled his eyes. "Come on babe, if I'm already worried, then surely it doesn't matter if I have a little bit more worry?" He knew it wasn't about that, not really. He _knew_ it was because I hated showing weakness, even with all we'd been through. But he continued to stare at me with that too-intense gaze that left me unable to lie.

"Your family's going to hate me." I let out in one breath.

"You're insane. They're going to love you, and if they don't then I'll punch them all in the face." At this I finally quirked a smile, kissing him fondly.

"You can't punch your family, especially not on my behalf." His eyes practically twinkled, taking my breath away momentarily. I'd thought that the longer we spent together the less his silly comments would make me laugh, and the less my heart would beat erratically whenever he looked at me. However, it never passed, the butterflies in my chest just growing stronger the more quirks of him I knew. Like how he bit his lip when he was thinking hard, or how he fiddled with my fingers when he was worried. Or how that look he was giving me meant he was seeing the moon and the stars in my eyes, despite there being no thing of such tremendous beauty inside me.

"Challenge accepted." Winking, he made me realise I'd been lost in my thoughts, snapping me back to the present. All this did though was make the urge to kiss him stronger. So I leaned in, closing the distance between us.

This was all halted, almost painfully, by the sound of footsteps and loud voices. I groaned, leaning my forehead against his in defeat. I felt his chuckle deep in his chest, unable to help myself from giggling breathlessly in response.

"Wow, cockblocked by your parents? Ace." A gruff voice sounded behind us. I turned slowly, afraid to see the army of Benedicts that would surely have come along to the expedition. I wasn't disappointed – there were at least 8 of them in the clearing, and that was without including Maisee. The man who'd spoken held a shocking resemblance to Ian, although, then again, they all did.

"Dad." I looked back in time to see Ian looking worriedly around the clearing, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Ian." The person who I now recognised as Ian's dad replied, nodding. "I do believe we deserve an introduction? And perhaps an explanation?" Ian seemed relieved at his dad's calm tone of voice, although it didn't last very long. "After that, we'll get onto your punishment."

"Damn." He mumbled under his breath, so only I could hear. I laughed in response, kissing his jaw. Knowing he was much too preoccupied with his own thoughts to explain this whole situation properly, I decided to sacrifice myself for his sake. Standing up, I dusted my shorts off, giving a broad smile to the posse of Benedicts that were now staring at me.

"I'm Althea, Ian's girlfriend." I stuck my hand out at his dad, grinning broader when his eyebrows rose in response. I couldn't make it look like his surprise or obvious judgement was affecting me. I was strong. I _was_ strong. It was ok to show my vulnerability to Ian, but the rest of the world was a whole different matter. He pulled back to glare at Ian, who shrunk further back against the trunk, making me bring out the big guns. Maybe it'd be enough to distract him from his son. "And soulfinder. Nice to meet you, Mr Benedict."

"Xavier. Nice to meet you too." His eyebrows had risen to his hairline, his anger having dissolved entirely, being replaced with surprise. He seemed too shocked to be able to say anything else. From behind him, a squeal broke the silence, as Maisee came barrelling towards me. I laughed, free and loud, when she jumped into my arms, both of us giggling like schoolgirls.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy!" She whispered, eyes brimming with tears.

"Wait, you aren't mad?" I asked, leaning back. I didn't want to bring it up, but if we were returning home then it'd be better if we resolved this sooner rather than later. Maybe Ian was infecting me with his carefulness.

"Well, a little, but I'm just so happy. We're going to be cousins!"

"Woah woah, don't you think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves?" A new voice broke in, making me turn towards it. There stood an incredibly tall woman, with beautiful, exotic features and a kind smile. "I'm Crystal, Ian's mother. Are you the girl Ian was willing to drop his soulfinder for?"

"Yup, that's me." I let out a humourless laugh, although it had joy laced within it. "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?" Xavier snapped out of his trance, shaking his head at himself, before he looked back up at me and Ian. Some of the anger from before had come back, shocking me with its presence.

"Now, just because this has had a happily ever after doesn't mean you two get off the hook. Ian, you really worried-" I couldn't hear the rest of his words, my head swimming and my heart beating loudly in my ears. I tried to clutch something, anything, to help me stay upright, but I found myself alone. Everyone's voices got louder, yet I couldn't make out specific words, just the volume and harshness of their tone. My vision went blurry, then too in focus, every blade of grass and twig becoming visible to me and overloading me with their presence. Colours started shining too brightly, making me press the heel of my hand hard into my eyes, as if I could drive the image out of my mind. Yet the colour burnt through my palms and fingertips and barriers and-

Everything.

Stopped.

A shout behind me. Hands around me. Noises too loud. Colours too vivid. Nothing made sense. All I saw were bright green eyes, staring at me through the fog, and a cat-like smile.

 _I'll find you soon. Just you wait, Althea._

Ian's POV:

I saw the signs before even she did. Her feet dug into the ground, her posture stiff. Then, her arms rose, digging her palms into her eyelids. It looked painful, and I knew she wouldn't do that – lest it look like she was crying – in front of anyone unless she was going through one of her episodes. In one motion I'd stood up, making everyone glance at me curiously. I didn't pay them any heed, waiting with baited breath to see if Ally was ok. She had to be. She'd never had two episodes in one day.

"Ally!" With a sway, she fell, as I rushed to her side. This wasn't like the other times, not even like earlier today. Her body was limp, her mouth gaping open. She looked… truly, and absolutely empty. A bitter taste filled my mouth, and I realised I was choking back tears. It wasn't just for this moment, but for how hopeless I'd felt this past month when it came to this. How she was getting worse and worse, and there was nothing I could do. Nothing. Now the girl I loved was crumbling in my arms, and I'd been repressing my feeling about this too long. A thin tendril of tears made their way down my cheek, the rest of my family rushing around me. The first one to come to my side with intentions to help was dad, who placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

"Is this why you asked us for help, son?" I nodded, not sure if my voice could be trusted. All I felt able to say was her name, it playing on repeat in my mind. Because she was everywhere. And she was everything. She couldn't become this empty shell. She had to come back. "Ok, let me see if I can help." With surprising gentleness, he placed his hands on her forehead, taking a deep breath. Knowing I could finally _do_ something, I was quick to tap into his gift, applying healing magic whilst he did a diagnostic scan. The only problem was, there was nothing to heal. No problems, no nothing, just a blank mind, trapped in hallucinations I couldn't remove. Dad noticed this at the same time as I did, both of us stumbling into a cold, harsh void. It gave me a feeling of vertigo, nausea swimming within me. My blood ran cold, everything coming to a halt

A hiss left my lips, at the same time as dad tore his hands off her, eyes gleaming in fear.

"This… This isn't something physical. We need to get your Uncle Zed in here. _Now_."

 **Hi :)**

 **So... You might hate me for this chapter. Whoops, haha. But dw, Zed will get his ass in there next chapter and help sort things out :D Well, somewhat. Also, who can take a guess at who whispered the words in Ally's mind?**

 **I got loads of reviews last chapter, despite forgetting to set a goal haha, which was kickass, thank you so much! Also, your response to Comforting Aubrey was amazing (especially considering it's only the same chappy) so thanks xx Can we get to 163 reviews?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	36. Chapter 36

Althea's POV:

Darkness surrounded me, but it wasn't the same as being in a field at night. It didn't even resemble the pitch black that shrouded my senses in the tent Ian and I shared when we ran away. It wasn't close to anything I'd ever felt – it was as if the darkness _was_ me, being so absolute and overcoming that it left nothing in its wake. My feet weren't stood on anything, and when I swung my arms around, the whole world tilted on its axis underneath me. The problem was that I didn't even know where down was.

My stomach rebelled against me, lurching whilst I continued to swing wildly. All I needed was to feel something under my fingertips – to be reminded that I had hands and they weren't just a figment of my imagination. In the end, I settled for curling into myself. Yet the dark was so thick that even my sense of touch was revoked from me. It was as if my body had been overtaken by the shadows, nothing existing apart from it. Not even me.

However, it suddenly started fading away, giving way to a white, too white, room. It was decorated to resemble a bathroom, with plaster, shining walls, and pristine tiles lining the floor. After such overbearing dimness before, the new harsh lighting made my eyes squint. I tried to take it all in, soon realising I was the only thing in the room, bare walls meeting my curious eyes. Not making me wait long, a voice spoke up, coming from everywhere around me, but also from nowhere.

"Hello, Althea. Or would you prefer Ally? I've heard that dear soulfinder of yours calling you so." Hating the tone the man spoke with – despite not even knowing who he was – I lurched forward, slamming my palm against the wall angrily.

"Who are you? Show yourself you fucking coward!"

"Oh, Althea, is that really the way to treat the man who has your life in his hands?" This made me halt, all my fury absolving to something akin to fear. If he was the one who'd placed me in the darkness then he could put me back in it – forever – and I didn't think my mind could take more than a few seconds of it.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, meekly sinking to the floor. I wanted candy, or anything which would give me a semblance of warmth or comfort or home. I wanted Ian.

"That is not the only thing I know about you, my dear." He was talking like he knew me, his haughty personality being obvious. It was enough to drive a little more anger out of me, making me look up at the ceiling like he was a demented version of god who I was praying for.

"You fucking bastard, you know nothing about me!"

"Once again, is it wise to speak to me that way?" Then he scoffed, the sound reverberating through me. "This generation and their disrespect."

"Oh yeah? I don't think it's very _respectful_ to lock someone in a dark room. Asshole." Insulting him wasn't completely necessary, I had to admit, but I was shaking and it was the only thing I had left so I spat the word out, loading it with venom.

"Don't you understand?" He let a pause drift between us, as I waited with baited breath for the new piece of information to be revealed. Maybe something that would tilt the balance so in his favour that I would crumble. Judging by how much he was squeezing this moment's enjoyment, I could tell it would be. I gritted my teeth, preparing myself for the impact. "You did this to yourself."

"Yeah, right, ok." If that was his move that was meant to be the final blow, he was deadly mistaken about how fragile I was. I wasn't naïve either – I knew I wasn't stupid enough to lock myself in this hellhole.

"You see, I'm not a savant myself, dear Althea, so I recruited some help-"

"Gee, story time, I'm so happy." I interrupted, smirking when I heard his frustrated growl.

"I will not hesitate to send you back, so you better learn your place." The threat sent me cowering again, the simple idea of going to that horrible place again being enough to drive all the words out of my throat. "Now, let me explain. I recruited some help, which wasn't all that hard to do, if I'm being honest. When you have clearly malicious intentions, bad people tend to crowd around you. The problem was finding someone who could do exactly what I needed. After a while, and going through the trouble of selecting a few talented savants, a plan started to formulate.

"It was obvious I wasn't going to get past the defences the Benedicts had set up around my dear Petal, but there was always the option of using someone against her. You were an obvious target – you were a self-proclaimed outcast, her best friend, _and_ her cousin's girlfriend. You secluded yourself so much from them – even making Ian join you in your little charade – that picking you out was easy. By that point we knew we were going to attack you. The question was how."

I cursed myself for all the things he was mentioning about me. He was right, the Benedicts were cocky and righteous, but they'd have been willing to help from the very start. They would've protected me from this asshole, whoever the hell he was, but I'd pushed them all away. Not only that, but with my ideas of not needing anyone, I'd influenced Ian, putting him in danger too. I felt sick, the room spinning.

"And that's when my newest member joined me. Oh, she's very talented indeed, Althea, and held quite a bit of a grudge towards you. She was _perfect_. Can you guess what her savant ability was?" Not in the mood to play his sick, twisted game, I looked upwards, glaring for all I was worth.

"Shooting lasers out of her ass?"

"Don't test me." He said this again with that compulsion in his tone which made me cower. "She increases certain people's traits. She can do this to a healthy amount, of course, but she can also cause a lot of pain. Like if someone's cocky, she can make them arrogant to the point where they will confidently step in front of a car because nothing can hurt them. Or if someone's easily frightened, she can give them a heart attack from fear. Or, say, if someone daydreams a lot…"

"My hallucinations." I whispered, bringing my shaking hands close to my chest. Was it possible that I could be stuck in one right now? Was the painful void just my mind? Now his words from before made sense – I was doing it to myself.

"Bingo. So, you may be asking yourself _why_. I couldn't care less about what you do – what I want is my sweet, innocent Petal. I'm going to use you as leverage, to lure her out. Until then, I'll continue having my fun with you." Mirth was clear in his voice, as I slammed my hand hard on the floor.

"Just let me go! Please!" I was growing desperate, the impending doom of being thrown back into the darkness making tears gather in my eyes. "You have no need for me, just let me wake up!"

"All in due time, my dear."

The room seemed to not need me anymore, pulling away from around me. I tried clutching at its walls, begging, pleading for it to stay. But it just slipped from my fingertips, leaving me a sobbing mess on a crumbling floor. Even though this was where that asshole spoke to me, I needed this room. Anything was better than that emptiness outside and the horrible nightmares. The white tiles around me started peeling away, as I shifted around them, struggling to stay on something solid. In the end, I was stood on a lone tile, my feet slipping precariously. It was only about 20 cm in each direction, but it was all I had left. Underneath me, the darkness seemed to grin at me, licking its lips in anticipation.

And then the inevitable happened, the last piece of my sanity moving away from me. I was sent flying, all clutching hands and jerking limbs and silent screams that echoed. I was falling, falling, falling, the pitch black horrors enveloping me in their inescapable embrace.

Ian's POV:

I stared at Ally's dormant body, her chest rising slowly with her breathing. Once again, I was struck with how _wrong_ this was. How disconcerting it was for her to be still, her expression calm. How weird it was for her mind to be blank instead of full of liquid fire and ideas that caught alight. But more than anything, it was wrong for her to be disappearing like this. People like her didn't leave with a sway and a whimper, nor with whispered words and troubled minds. She was meant to go out with an explosion that rivalled the Big Bang, fighting and struggling until she was holding on to life by the skin of her teeth - and then continue rebelling against it.

A hand on my shoulder startled me, forcing me to drag my eyes away from her still form. The thought of her passing away in my bed, buried in blankets and sorrow, drove a dagger through my chest. It made it hard to breathe, even when I tried to forget about it.

"Ian, how you holding up?" Asked Maisee, slowly rubbing her hand up and down my arm. She'd taken Sky's place as person-to-send-when-someone-needs-comfort, so the gesture didn't mean much. Yet I was so distraught that I allowed it to, imagining that she was doing this solely because she was my friend and she cared.

"I think Ally's state is a little more important than mine." She frowned at my words, shaking her head slightly.

"Sure, it's important, but your health is too Ian. We'll get her back. Don't waste away just because of the idea that she might not."

"I know. It's just… It's hard, you know? It's so damn hard. And she looks lonely there, no matter how much I stand beside her. I feel so useless, so absolutely hopeless. Ally's hurt and what can I do? Give her company? I'd do anything to make her better, don't you see? _Anything_. But there's nothing left to do." Taken aback by my rant, she stared at me, eyes wide with understanding. I didn't want to unleash the barrage of tears I'd hidden behind closed eyelids, but there was nothing I could do to prevent it. A choked sob escaped my lips, followed by a tear. And then another and another, until I was burying my face in the crook of Ally's neck to hide from Maisee. It was embarrassing, to be bawling simply because she was asleep.

"It's ok Ian. It's going to be ok. Zed's on his way here already - in half an hour it'll all be solved." Wrapping her arms around me, as I wrapped my own around Althea, we both crumbled. The pretence that it was ok was destroyed the second Maisee started crying too. First it was quiet, but then she too was sobbing into my back, the material of my shirt absorbing her sadness.

Zed had arrived, bringing with him a new wave of desperate hopefulness that Ally would be ok. Because she had to. We'd assembled in the living room, the lights dimmed and candles all around us. Ally was tucked into my arms, whilst I relished in the feeling of her being in my embrace, even if she wasn't awake to presence it.

"Alright, how do we want to get this started?" Zed asked, looking down at her body curiously. Despite knowing he was there to help, I tightened my arms around her protectively.

"I don't know, we just need to see what's causing these hallucinations. But it's going to be a dark, dangerous place Zed. Prepare yourself." Dad spoke up, warning Zed with hooded eyes. He'd felt the same awful void I had, so I knew the feeling he was talking about, and that 'dangerous' didn't even being to explain it.

The exploration started slowly, with Zed delving into her mind. You could see from his posture the minute he touched the darkness, his body stiffening and fists clenching on his lap. I didn't know if he was a stronger savant, or if the fact that he'd been warned about it made it easier for him to keep going, but he pushed on. Dad and I hadn't been able to.

Dad followed behind him carefully, Zed illuminating a precarious path. He was there in case Zed needed healing, and was being held afloat by mum's soulfinder link. I knew I was only supposed to go in later, but uneasiness gnawed at me, and I jumped straight into the darkness too. Just like the time before, nausea swept through me. However, the light he had lit, and all the pent up angst about Ally's condition, helped me navigate it without pulling away.

"I think… someone's doing this to her. Look, the hallucinations lead somewhere, they're being caused by something outside of her mind." Zed said from beside me, breaking my concentration. With a gasp, I opened my eyes, having to pull myself out of her mind.

"You really think so?" I wondered out loud, threading my fingers with Ally's inert ones. That made this whole situation much much worse. If someone was doing this to her then they had the power to cut her life off suddenly, without prior warning or intent. They were probably a powerful savant, and a single thought from them would destroy everything. She was everything. "No… Please no."

"I found her!" Zed shout made everyone look away from me and Ally, pinning their expectations on his exclamation. Even I found myself holding my breath, watching Zed with wide, hopeful eyes.

 **Hi :)**

 **So, now you all know! I hope I did the scene justice, because I really had no idea what I was doing xD Althea doesn't know yet that he's Petal's dad, but it'll get there. And dw, Ian will be able to help her soon enough :D**

 **We passed the goal last chapter! Thank you all so much :) You all get cake ;) Can you guys get to 168? That'd be amazing ^.^ Also, we're nearing the end now, I'm afraid, so I'd like to take a moment to say thank you all for your support throughout this book - I really wouldn't have gotten this far without it. So I have a teeny weeny favour to ask:**

 **Would any of yo be willing to beta my work? I've been thinking about it for a while, and even though I'm (mostly) ok grammar-wise, I'd like to have someone reading over my chapters and telling me which bits are boring/could be improved. If you're interested, pop me a PM, or just in the comments even, and I'd really appreciate it ^.^**

 **Bye bye xx**


	37. Chapter 37

Althea's POV:

I awoke from my slumber peacefully. Nightmares of a dark so dark it hurt haunted my closed eyelids, so I sprung up with a scream, clutching around me. Light blinded me, a sigh of relief escaping my parched lips. I wasn't in the hellhole anymore, I was ok, I was… Where was I? Looking around, I saw Ian's room, with his off-white walls and soft carpet and football trophies lining the shelves. Books were strewn everywhere, more messy than last time I'd been here.

The most prominent feature however was that it was empty, devoid of Ian's presence. Was he trapped in his mind just like I'd been? And was I still in a hallucination or was this real? Bile rose in my throat at the thought that I wouldn't ever truly know the answer to that question.

"Ian?! _Ian_?" My voice stuck in my throat - I was parched and unable to do little else apart from speak in croaked whispers. But I needed to shout. This was no good. I should use telepathy, it was the obvious solution, yet I was feeling so crowded by everything that I couldn't think logically. My chest hurt from trying to yell and failing, my eyes burnt with unshed tears, and my mind continued to chaotically mull over what was happening. As if summoned by my distress, Ian entered, humming lightly to himself. He was carrying some coffee, but the second he saw me awake he dropped the mug. It shattered in slow motion, pieces flying everywhere as Ian's eyes blew wide open. His lips parted in shock, a startled breath coming through them in a hiss. Whilst this all happened, I clutched at the place where my heart lay, panting and moaning in pain.

"Ally, oh my god, you're awake." His eyes filled with tears as he rushed to my side, pushing some pillows under me to help me incorporate myself. I continued to whimper silently, although it was much subdued now that Ian had placed his hands on my cheeks, staring at me with all the intensity of a billion suns. "I'm going to heal you a bit, ok? You're dehydrated and my dad's gift is healing, so I can borrow it." We'd never discussed gifts in depth, but I knew his briefly. It came in handy in moments like these, making me relax against the pillows. However, as he healed my body, I realised that the throbbing in my chest wasn't physical, but rather my whole being screaming in fear.

Another moan left my chapped lips, as I weakly struggled against Ian.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"You should go clean up the coffee you spilt." I twisted my body away from him, taking in deep, controlled breaths. How did I know he was real, and not the man from before manipulating my thoughts to give me a glimmer of hope? All he'd need to do now was put fake-Ian in danger and I'd be his. Even if I was fully aware that this was a dream, I'd still sacrifice myself to him because of the simple _idea_ that this might be real. That my real Ian could be in danger.

"Later. What's wrong babe?"

"What if you're not real?" I let out in one breath, the idea choking me until I let it out. It burnt trough my tongue, and when Ian registered my words I could see them hurting him too.

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm real." The thing was, I couldn't trust him. Because if that asshole was in my mind he could see what I expected Ian to say and think and act like. Even if this was all completely real, I'd be second-guessing myself. Forever.

"How can I know that?"

"Babe, look at me, please." He implored, pinning me down with his gaze. I clutched my hands tight on my lap, before looking up. I needed to stay strong, I needed to stay strong, I- I couldn't do it. The second he looked me in the eyes I was completely lost, completely his. It didn't matter if the mysterious man from before was manipulating this to his advantage - Ian was here and I was scared and I needed him. Desperately. "It's me, alright? You've got to know that." I didn't know that. But the problem was that I didn't know anything, and I needed someone to believe in. So I believed in him.

"Oh, Ian." Tears gathered in my eyes as he crushed me to his chest. I was ashamed to say I even let a sob escape me. Yet the dark had been so dark and so cold and he was warm - _alive_. I wanted to live here, in the spot he'd made for me between his heart and his soul.

"Shh, it's ok. We got you out. It'll be ok."

"It was so awful, I- I thought I wouldn't make it." As I said this, he looked at me with pride swelling in his eyes.

"But you did."

Ian's POV:

I watched Ally's still form morosely, torturing myself with the hope that maybe if I spoke to her she'd wake up. It had been a week now, so long that we'd had to connect an IV-drop to her. However, not nearly long enough to discover how to help her. Whatever or whomever was causing this had her tight in its grasp, squeezing the life out of her slowly.

"Hey Ally. My parents started talking about making me go back to school today. I got so overwhelmed I kind of stormed out. Truth be told, they didn't insist very hard. I think they understand what I'm going through." I waited a beat of silence, as if giving her a gap to speak in my one-sided conversation. It was stupid, of course she wouldn't suddenly wake up and answer me. With a choked breath, I kept going. "Funny, huh? That it takes an awful situation such as this for me to get along with my parents. Mum's constantly stressed out, insisting she should use her gift to find you. Dad keeps trying to heal you despite there being nothing to heal. And me? Well, I'm just trying to hold myself in one piece so that when you wake up I'm not shattered into a million fragments."

After giving her a basic run-down of the day, I talked whimsically about all which popped into my head. I knew she was a sucker for beautiful words and artfully woven daydreams, so I focused on that the most, hoping to attract her attention. Every once in a while she rolled over, mumbling something or other under her breath. It was much too quiet for me to decipher what she said, but I took solace in her words. They were the only indication that she was still in there.

"Ian?! _"_ Her breath turned from steady to erratic, as she clutched around her. Thinking she was looking for me, I grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze. This was the first time she'd spoken coherently, making a surge of hope flit through my system.

"I'm here."

"No no no, _Ian._ "

Althea's POV:

Ian and I were just laying there, holding hands and catching up on all I'd missed out on, when something began to change. The atmosphere became charged, the lighting dimmer, and the sparkle in Ian's eyes died out.

"I can't believe he's using you to get Maisee." He spoke, thoughtfully. I stared at him hard, trying to figure out what was different. All I knew was that I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I was no longer that sure that this Ian I was talking to was my Ian.

"I know, it's scary, isn't it?"

"So what are you going to do about it then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you need to help her, don't you?" He pinned me down with his eyes, and everything about this was wrong. "You should deliver his message to her, and then hand yourself over to him to save her."

"Ian what are you on about?"

"She's more important than you anyway. I mean have you seen the amount of protection she has around her? That should be indication enough that you mean nothing and she means the world to us." I shrunk away from him, sliding off the bed. This couldn't be my Ian. Surely not. But what if it was? What if the real Ian was saying all these horrid things to me?

"Ian, you're scaring me." As I looked around, I saw I was surrounded by an iron cage, full of jagged edges on which to hurt myself.

"That's the point, _babe._ "

"Ian?!" I screamed, hoping he'd confirm that it wasn't him, that he wasn't the one allowing venom to spew from his tongue.

"The one and only." He slowly ran his finger along one of the metal spikes, causing a drop of blood to accumulate on his hand. Staring me down with those eyes that weren't the right grey and didn't have the right fire within, he licked it off slowly. "Oh, the fun has only just begun."

"No no no, _Ian._ "

 **Hi :)**

 **Sorry this is a bit late, but I came home today from my holiday so it's been a bit busy haha. However, that means you guys get regular chapters again! Yay! No more beach to distract me from the important thing in life - soulfinders ;)**

 **Ok, I hope this wasn't too confusing, but if it was just send me a PM and I'll sort it out xD I have the bad habit of assuming you guys know stuff that you don't, so... Whoops haha**

 **Thanks so much for all your reviews last chapter, I know the story's at a pretty stressy place right now, which is hard for me to write, so I'm so happy for all your support! Can e get to 172 reviews this chapter? Thanks a bunch!**

 **Bye bye xx**


	38. Chapter 38

Althea's POV:

The torture went on for days on end, mornings blurring into afternoons and nights only for the cycle to start again. 'Ian' took his sweet time, first destroying me mentally by making me believe he was real, and then breaking me apart physically. Sometimes the pain was slow and burning, blades being dragged across my skin. Other times it came in quick flashes, with a knife buried in my chest. Yet I was unable to die, so it all just kept on going and going, and I was sure that any more of this would surely lead to me passing away, possible or not.

"My sweet, sweet Althea. Are you going to deliver the message to Petal now?" Ian stood above me, a sharp knife in his hand. His eyes had long since stopped resembling Ian's, instead taking on a darker hue and gleaming sheen that could surely not belong to the boy I loved.

"No." I ground out, as he pressed the tip of the blade on my collarbone. It was only sunrise, which meant we still had a long day ahead of us, making it incomprehensible for him to already start the pain. Usually there was a build-up. One that left me shaking in fear and anticipation, but one I appreciated nonetheless.

"Are you sure?" He started tracing shapes on my skin, digging harder and harder the longer I didn't reply for. I stubbornly kept my lips shut, not wanting him to have the pleasure of seeing me in pain. Then, suddenly, it all stopped, Ian staring at me with eyes that morphed to a bright green. In his place stood a man around 40 years old, with carefully combed blond hair and a pristine suit. He gasped, taking a hand to his mouth. "Oh, that gives me an idea."

"Who are you?!" I interrupted, not wanting him to involve me in any of his other horrible, horrible plans. I felt bile crawling up my throat, as my neck and chest continued to throb from the pain he'd inflicted.

"All in due time, my dear. But I must say, this plan is simply exquisite." Angered by his refusal to give me a straight answer, I thrashed in the bounds that held me, opening my mouth to scream. Yet I was stopped by the knife again. This time it was pressed against my mouth, drawing a drop of blood from my lips. "Ah, ah, we wouldn't want to have to cut off your tongue again, now would we?" That day had been the one with the worst agony, so I vehemently shook my head, making his eyes brighten. "Alright, so this is what we're going to do. I am going to let you go of this nightmare you've been in for a month. And then you're going to go to my sweet Petal, and deliver my message." This was the same plan as before, so I furrowed my eyebrows, anticipation for what would come next making my blood cold. "And if you don't, I will drag you back here myself and keep you in your head. Forever."

The last thing I saw before everything went black were his hands, cradling my bloodied face, and his uncannily green eyes, staring into my soul.

"That's a promise, my dear."

I thrashed in the bed I was in, screaming for all I was worth. Sheets tangled around my legs whilst I kept my eyes tightly shut, scared of what I'd find if I opened them. Maybe he was lying, maybe he hadn't taken me back. Maybe if I opened my eyes I'd see Ian with his not-quite-right eyes and that awful human being with his pristine appearance and wretched soul. I choked back on my sobs as I continued to twist and turn, clutching for anything that came too close to my fragile being. Footsteps thundered outside, and remotely I heard the door slamming open. It seemed like it was somewhere else though, like I still wasn't real because nothing around me was.

"Ally! Ally calm down! I'm here, it's ok, I'm here." Arms came around me, making my eyes open wide. Through my tears, I saw Ian blurrily, making me scream harder. My throat pulsated in pain, the ghost feeling of his knife cutting into my flesh being all I remembered.

"Get away from me!" With a startled breath, he did, looking as hurt as I was.

"Ally… It's me, Ian." He was staring at me earnestly, his face twisted into a grimace because of my words. What if the man hadn't been lying? What if this truly was my Ian, and not that monster from before?

"No you're not!" There would be no point in doing this again though, he'd already broken me mentally, and I knew all about his stupid tricks. Could he be telling the truth? That would mean I'd have to deliver on what he'd asked me to do, or else I'd be trapped in that hell forever. I didn't know what I'd hate more – still being in my head or having to betray my friend. I would rather give myself up. But would I? Petal was selfless and kind, things like that came second nature to her, but it didn't to me. I couldn't just sacrifice myself to a torturous experience because it meant that she _might_ be in danger. And with all the Benedicts around us, they'd be able to protect her. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that telling her was the best I could do, they all just sounded like silly excuses. I couldn't even ask Ian for advice, because if I was still in my head he could manipulate me into doing his bidding.

"Of course I am. What happened to you?" My tears had cleared, meaning I could now watch him without distraction to try to gauge if this was the real him. I'd noticed that after a while of keeping me in my head, he got sloppy. So if the nightmare was still occurring, he wouldn't have the energy needed to make Ian a complete replica of my memories. Yet Ian's eyes looked exactly like I remembered them, albeit clouded with sadness.

"So much. So much." At my response and the sob that escaped my lips, he stepped forward again, seemingly unable to help himself. This had to be real, it had to be. Even if it wasn't, I needed a few minutes of peace, a few minutes with my soulfinder to hold me and love me. If afterwards it all went to hell and he started torturing me again, at least I would have a memory to hold close to my heart.

"We've been trying to help you for a month. I- I thought you'd never wake up."

"Me neither." He still appeared too shocked to believe what was happening, whilst at the same time hurt in more ways than one. I was most likely the cause of all the reasons for his pain. The thought felt like a spear through my chest. Repercussions be damned, I was going to enjoy this moment. So with a whimper, I threw myself in his arms. He stumbled back, laughing slightly in disbelief. "Ian, you were there. In my nightmares. In all of them."

"What did I do?" He knew what I meant immediately, looking at me, scared.

"You hurt me." I took in a shaky breath, nestling myself in his arms. "The you inside my head hurt me until every part of me died. And now… Now I need to follow his commands or he'll drag me back. I can't go back, Ian." He was still looking directly into my eyes, and I was pretty sure he was using his dad's gift to burry through all of my recent memories. I felt vulnerable, but I'd spent a whole eternity being a victim, so for once in my life, I let myself be weak. I cried and cried and cried into his chest until my eyes were crusty and my throat sore and I ached with the feeling of finally letting everything go.

"It'll be ok Ally. I won't let him drag you back. I won't. I _won't_." He said, conviction in his tone and steeliness in his expression. However, once he looked down at me, it all vanished, melting away to show warmth. "I can't believe you're back. I thought yo wouldn't be ok. But you are, and you're safe, you're here. This month has been… really difficult. More for you than me but just, watching you sleep for weeks on end with _nothing_ I could do to help you was the most painful thing I've ever had to do." And then he too let his walls crumble, tears spilling down his cheeks. "I love you, babe."

"I love you too." I mumbled, still toying with the idea that maybe I could've gotten lucky enough to really have this all be real.

"No, you don't understand. I love you, _so_ much." The intensity in his eyes showed me what he meant, although I didn't need to look to know how he was feeling. I'd felt it myself. That feeling of love so strong that it overtook your chest and seemed to make you explode. That feeling that made everything else null and void because you _loved_ that person, and there was nothing better in the world. So I nodded, crying softly still. I'd gone through hell, but now I'd come out and the best prize of all awaited me on the other side. Ian.

We were sat in the living room now, and after everyone had offered me their 'welcome back' or their 'I'm so sorry that happened to you', we were ready for a debriefing. I wasn't exactly looking forward to retelling the seemingly endless torture I'd gone through. Wincing into Ian, I prepared myself for what was to come.

I'd decided, I'd be telling Maisee the message the man had told me, but I'd be doing it in from of the rest of the Benedicts so they'd be able to help her. If I told her alone she'd surely go find him herself, which was what I was trying to avoid.

"Ok, let's get this show on the road then." Zed began, scrubbing his hands together. I feebly nodded, taking a deep breath.

"I was imprisoned in my own mind. I was hurt, constantly, and the only reason I've returned is to do one thing." I needed to do this, if I didn't I'd be sent back. I couldn't go back. I _couldn't_. And we'd figure this out. Once the Benedicts knew the whole situation they'd track this asshole down and force him to release his hold on my mind and to leave Maisee alone. "To tell Maisee that there's a man who's making us choose between saving you or… or saving me."

 **Hi :)**

 **So a bit of an angsty chapter, like most have been, but there'll be some good soon, I promise. I mean I need to wrap this story up** ** _sometime_** **haha. If not I could probably keep trying to solve this issue for 40 more chapters**

 **We passed the review target! Gosh, I love you guys so much :) I think I've said it before, but this story really wouldn't have gotten to this point without you, cos I would've probably given up on it a while ago. But thanks to all your support I'm here and I'm close to finishing** ** _another_** **story, which is just incredible. Can we get to 177 this chapter? Thanks!**

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	39. Chapter 39

Ally's POV:

The whole room was immersed for a second in a silence so thick I thought I would choke on it. When, suddenly, it all exploded, the mayhem being led by Gray's shout of "I'll kill him!" I watched the scene unravel in front of me, disconnected from it all. Nothing felt real, not after spending so long in my own head.

"Babe, hey, it'll be ok." Ian whispered into my ear. He'd been the only one to not do anything in anger, but that had most likely been because he'd seen how tightly I was gripping his hand. Not to mention he'd rooted through my memories earlier, so this didn't come as much of a surprise, really. Yet even though everyone was shouting about protecting me and Maisee, and Ian seeming to understand why I'd told everyone, I still felt like I needed to redeem myself. After such a horrible thing I'd done by doing that asshole's bidding, I needed to show the Benedicts that I was on their side.

"Um, excuse me?" No one listened, continuing to fume with loud anger, whilst I clutched Ian tighter to me. "Hey!" Getting on their level of volume caused people's heads to turn. Slowly, one by one, they saw my trembling lips and the tears gathering in my eyes. "So I've decided to hand myself over. Maisee or Petal or whatever, she's one of you guys. I'm not." Again the room erupted in protests, claiming they could save both of us. This time, Ian joined in, staring at me with a mixture of hurt and anger pulsing strongly in his eyes. I sighed, laying my head on the crook of his neck. I was so tired.

Which was strange, considering I'd slept for the past month. But my body had been inactive for so long that it couldn't take much of anything. Not to mention that I was drained mentally too – constantly second-guessing reality and reuniting with your soulfinder took a lot out of you. Ian shook me a couple of times to regain my attention, still complaining rather loudly about how there was no need to sacrifice either of us, yet gave up once he realised how gone I was.

The thing was, none of them understood. Or, perhaps they did, and were knee-deep in denial. We couldn't just fight him off with some shouted threats and raised fists. He had hold of my mind, holding me in his grasp like a mere rag-doll. That savant on his side was powerful, too much so, and if neither of us handed ourselves over we'd be goners. He could put us each in a nightmare for years and years and years until finally one of us cracked and betrayed the other.

We couldn't get out of it. The Benedicts had gotten through many a scrap in their lifetime, but they were facing something way out of their control for once. They were just adamant to admit it.

I wasn't stupid though, nor did I have a pride so large it blinded me. I saw what was at stake here, and that they couldn't simply put up their big hero act and expect things to fall in their favour. Either Maisee or I would fall – and I wasn't about to sit back and let it be her. She'd been nothing but kind to me, despite how unorthodox our relationship was, and how she oftentimes scolded me for not being ideally caring. It was time I did something for her for once. It was time I gave up this stupid act I had on, where I ignored any kindness from the world, and actually gave back.

"You can't change my mind." I said, using Ian's gift to infuse it with power. Everyone stared at me in shock, whilst tears kept falling down my cheeks. "I know what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let Maisee be taken by this asshole with an ego as big as Jupiter." Raising to my feet, I looked up at the ceiling. Broadcasting on every savant frequency, I shouted. "You hear me, you dick?! Come for me! And if you try to touch my friend, I'll _kill_ you."

Ian's POV:

Althea's last word hung heavy in the air, the power in her words making the atmosphere steely. I thought that for once we'd won a battle, that we'd scared him into submission somehow. Yet the next events proved me deadly wrong. Both Maisee and Ally fell to the ground with a resounding thud, making the already thick silence lethal.

This couldn't be happening. He'd only just given her back to me. He _couldn't_ do this. A sound must've left my throat, because next thing I knew I was on the floor besides Ally, a guttural scream ripping through my throat.

"I'll kill you! You son of a bitch, I'll kill you with my own bear hands!" I was tugged away from Ally, whilst I continued to yell obscenities that fell on deaf ears. There was a twisting feeling in my gut, and I felt sick. Everything was wrong, oh so wrong, when just a few seconds ago it had been something we could work through. I didn't believe that anymore.

"Ian, Ian listen to me." Hands pulled on my face roughly, tilting my chin up to look up at mum. Her gaze was hard, although her eyes showed a different expression, fear barely concealed there. "We can fix this, ok? There's a stronger bond we can follow this time – both Petal's and Althea's. Alright?" I couldn't think straight. She was reassuring me that we'd be able to fix things, but look where that had taken us last time. Arrogance definitely ran in the family. I just wanted to curl up with Ally and have her bicker with me, both of us laughing until tears sprouted in our eyes. I wanted happiness to burn brightly in my chest, not this hellish nightmare I was forced to leave. That asshole wouldn't give Althea up, not anymore. I knew he'd only done so for his purposes, but now there was no point in bringing her back.

My breathing became harder whilst they all formed a tight circle around their bodies. Ally was placed in my arms, Maisee in Gray's. We were both shell-shocked, standing there frozen.

"Ok. Crystal, you know what you need to do." She nodded, whilst I continued gazing around, things going too fast and too slow at the same time. Ally was gone. That's all I knew.

"Ian, honey," mum spoke up again. "I need you to focus on me. I'm gonna follow your soulmate bonds to drag them out of there, but you need to help me out." Without knowing what I was doing, I started nodding, wanting to help Althea more than anything. The room spun around me, my concentration obviously not enough to do much in the savant world. Yet the second I was plunged into the horribly dark place that was Maisee and Ally's minds, I knew what to do. Gray and I stood side by side, pain and vertigo at the black expanse coursing through us.

This time however, there was a bright line guiding us exactly where we needed, tethering us to the spot. With determination, I held onto it. I wouldn't let the darkness swallow me and leave me rendered useless, I needed to be of help to Ally, or else I'd never forgive myself.

 _Gray, Ian, can you hear me?_ Mum asked, her voice warped and distorted by the dense black fog surrounding us. I noticed the light start pulsing, growing stronger by the second.

 _Yeah_.

 _Alright, we tried this before, but with only Ian and Ally's bond we couldn't get anywhere. However, with both of yours I think we can manage it. Follow it carefully, and be weary of what you find on the other side. Your soulfinders will be there but they might have some protection around them. Be cautious._

Following her instructions with little hesitation, we started the tiresome adventure. After a while my hands started throbbing, the light digging into my palms painfully. Ignoring it, I ploughed forward. It didn't look like we were moving at all, despair settling heavy in my chest. The only reassurance I had was the look of determination on Gray's face. If he could have hope then so could I.

Once we crossed an invisible boundary, things changed, the atmosphere charged with something different. I could taste blood on my tongue even though I hadn't bitten my tongue. Gray's sour expression told me he probably felt it too. He opened his mouth, apparently ready to ask me, but his words didn't reach me properly, the noise garbled.

Eventually we made our way to the epicentre of it all. And mum was right. This definitely wouldn't be as easy as just taking them.

They both lay together, eyes closed peacefully. Around them stood copies of him and I, standing firmly like soldiers awaiting instructions. I swallowed hard, not liking the look of it one bit, especially if Gray and I couldn't communicate to coordinate an attack.

"Oh, look, your lovely soulfinders _finally_ decided to grace us with their presence." The words came from every direction, making Ally sit up in fear. The last thing I saw were her lips parting in a silent scream, and her eyes widening in absolute terror. In that second where everything stood still, I could've sworn she told me to run, that he couldn't get to me.

And then, everything disappeared.

 **Hi :)**

 **Now, by this point I could be a nice human being and actually resolve the issue, but no I'm a disaster, and just can't seem to write down a conclusion to all of this. Whoops haha**

 **But your reviews have been superb! We passed the review goal last time, so thanks loads and loads for that :) It always makes me so happy to see your comments, they're just great. Also, to all the guests out there that I can never properly say thank you to, I love you guys ^.^ Can we get to 182 reviews this chapter?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	40. Chapter 40

Althea's POV:

The minute I opened my eyes, I saw the white room I'd been placed here the first time I was sucked into my mind. I was huddled in a corner, knees drawn to my chest and dried tears on my cheeks. I rubbed at them furiously, glancing around to the rest of the people in the room. Maisee stood in the opposite corner to me, sobbing into her hands quietly. To my right was Ian, still half comatose and glancing around dazedly. His eyes were only half-open, and the first place they looked at was straight at me. A forced smile tugged up the corners of his lips until he let his head fall back against the wall with a groan. In the corner to my left was Gray, though I didn't pay him much attention.

My first instinct was to crawl towards Ian, to warn him that he had to get out whilst he still could. Although I didn't believe he had any opportunities of escape anymore. Not for him. Definitely not for Maisee and I. It seemed our capture wasn't worth keeping us awake, so we'd been kept asleep most of the time we'd been gone – which could be days or maybe only minutes. All I'd known was that Ian was going to follow me in there. Unfortunately he had.

"Aw, look, all of us getting together in one place. Isn't that sweet?" Maisee opened her eyes for the first time since we'd been trapped by him, staring at the wall almost in a trance.

" _You_." She murmured, sinking further back.

"Yes, took you long enough my sweet Petal." If Maisee recognised him then that meant it could probably only be one person – her father. Groaning, I hit my head against the wall. This was all caused by a delusional, sick man. It was such a joke. Yet at the same time it was the most danger I'd ever been in. Which made me feel all the more stupid.

"Stay away from my friends, you monster!" She screamed, standing up on shaky legs. We all watched her carefully, waiting for the man to strike back. Soon enough, he did, slamming her back into her place. A growl resounded across the room, making us all cower. All thought of making my way over to Ian were forgotten, replaced by a steely determination to stay in place and keep my mouth shut.

"Ah ah ah, not yet my pet." He cleared his throat, whilst Mais incorporated herself clumsily. All I could do was look out for what would surely come next. "Now, may I present to you, the final boss!" I waited with baited breath, a resounding silence overtaking the room. Then, it all fell away when someone materialised in the middle, looking down with guilty eyes.

Leah stood there, shoulders hunched. Her bright blue eyes were hazy with culpability, as she glanced around at us. She seemed to want to be anywhere but here. At first I was confused, not understanding why her father would call Leah the final boss. Yet it suddenly made sense. The girl he'd been talking about, the one who caused all the attacks on my brain. She was Leah, all this time.

"Don't be shy." She whispered, still with her eyes glued to the floor. If I had to guess, I'd say there was a lot of manipulation on his part involved here. "I'm here to fight."

"Why?" Whilst the rest of us had been standing up and glaring daggers at her, Ian still sat in the corner. His eyes drooped closed from time to time – it was obvious the effect of whatever had been put on us had yet to rub off of him. It was the only word he said, with a broken stutter in the middle. And I remembered how fiercely loyal the Benedict were, how much it must've hurt to discover that his friend had done this.

"Because there's no other choice."

"There's always another choice!" I shouted, being a little more alert than Ian. Facing off to her was something I'd wanted to do for a while now, although discovering she'd caused me so much pain and anguish felt like something akin to betrayal. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would. She'd tortured me for a _month_ straight.

"Don't you understand?! There's never been another choice!" She finally met my eyes, them glinting dangerously. Swallowing hard, I took a faltering step back, colliding with the wall. Seizing the opportunity, she advanced, cornering me.

"Of course there is!" I held my ground, despite her towering above me. I was terrified, this was the girl that could manipulate the situation into anything she wanted. But I wouldn't let her see that.

"No. Not anymore. I'm in too far." Grabbing my collar, she shoved me into the wall, pinning me down. Her form started blurring, the nightmares she'd cause appearing from thin air. However, before she could hit me with them, something hit her, making her scream and fall back. Gray stood there, panting. Liquid fire swam in his hands, overtaking the skin there up to his forearms. I stood in a daze as he swept down on Leah, placing his hand right above her head.

"I have no fucking clue who you are, you crazy bitch, but listen to me, I _will_ -" Before he could finish, she opened her eyes, the blue there becoming so bright it burnt.

"No, you listen to me. Or else you might get, I dunno, burnt." She shrugged, a grimace appearing on her features. In that moment, she looked so scared, like a little girl manipulated beyond breaking point. Then the innocence disappeared, replaced by a deadly calm. Gray's fire started growing and growing, seemingly beyond his control as he screamed. I remembered her gift all too late, springing into action.

"She can use your traits against you, be careful!" All I got in reply was a glare from Gray, who continued to twist in agony.

"You don't _say_."

"Gray, don't." Maisee came to the rescue, placing her hand on his shoulder. Slowly, the fire began to recede, until all that was left in its wake were third degree burns lining his arms. Swallowing hard, I looked away from the scene, focusing back on Leah. She was holding her head in her hands, whimpering from time to time. I almost swore I heard her say sorry. But then I realised that this was probably just a mind trick to get us to take pity ono her so she could overcome us. She had burnt Gray, and even though I hated him he was part of my family now. Not to mention Ian and Maisee were in danger. I'd destroy her.

"Hey Leah! Come at me, bitch!" With a growl, she sprang, tears in her eyes. She tackled me to the floor, sending us both sprawling.

"Do I really need to use your daydreaming against you?" She ground out, holding me still whilst I struggled against her.

"I thought you'd get more creative." My comment was meant to make her pissed off so I could get an upper hand, but instead all it did was make a sadistic smile light up her face.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." A wave of pride hit me, making me lay ramrod still. I was too good for this, what was she on about. I was so much better than her that I didn't even need to fight her. She was puny, the lowest of human beings. It'd be easier to get rid of a _fly_. Rolling away from her, I stood, smiling.

"I won't fight you."

"Oh?" She looked amused, but I brushed it off, knowing I'd be the one who got the last laugh. After all she was just the scum at the bottom of my shoe.

"I'm so much better than you that I have no need to." Jutting my chin out, I kept my gaze on her. She had nothing on me. Turning around, she started on the next person of our little group. She was probably too afraid to hurt me, in fear of what I'd retaliate with. She'd even turned her back to me, what a rookie mistake. I wouldn't jump her now though, I wanted an even fight to prove my superiority, anyone could win with the element of surprise. So I stood still, watching on.

Ian's POV:

Everything was hazy. All I knew was that Leah was hurting my friends. Gray was clutching his arms, Althea was scoffing in a corner, and Maisee was next. Struggling to my feet, I swayed lightly. I had to help them. I was counting on Ally to save us whilst I collapsed in a corner, but it was obvious that Leah had done something to her. This was my only option.

"Leah, please don't do this." Slumping against the wall, I just about managed to keep my feet steady. However, it paid off, diverting her attention away from Maisee and onto me. Whatever she was doing to them, I'd be able to take it.

"Didn't you hear me before? I have no choice."

"Why not? Explain it to me." She shook her head rapidly, and I knew this must be bad.

"I'm sorry." Before she could do whatever she planned to, I tackled her to the ground, holding her arms above her head. Searching her head, I was quick to find her gift, seizing control of it. It seemed to be an amp of some sort, making people's traits or gifts stronger to the point of pain. Which explained why Ally was looking at us snootily from the corner, and Gray had burnt himself.

I knew I could divert it back onto her if I simply concentrated enough, although it was hard to do through my blurry thoughts. Focusing, I tried to find any negative traits I could turn against her. Yet throughout my search, I discovered something I wasn't quite expecting. She had kindness in her, and a lot more than I thought I'd find. This was my chance. Turning it up like a volume dial, I watched as the forced evil left her eyes, replaced by that lost girl look I'd seen within her for so long.

"I don't want to do this. But he told me you'd love me if I did, and- and when I saw that you were so happy with Ally I- I tried to quit. By then he had my family. Please help us Ian, please." She started vanishing from underneath me, yet, before she did, she gave us our salvation. "He's in a house by the forest. I think Petal will know which one. I'll let you go now. But you need to promise me you'll come as soon as you can." With that, she disappeared, everything reverting back to normal. Soon, I felt us slipping too.

As we began going back to reality, Ally rushed into my open arms, sobbing quietly into the crook of my neck. I hugged her back as tightly as I could, never wanting to lose sight of her ever again. I'd missed her so much, even if she'd only been gone for a few hours this time. The prospect of losing her forever had driven pain so deep into my heart that it had felt like years.

"I'm so sorry I didn't help." I almost scoffed at her words, them seeming so ridiculous. I'd gotten her back, I couldn't care less about the technicalities. Slumping down against her, the last of the room slipped away from us.

"Hey, hey, it's ok." I assured her, smoothing her hair back. And as we watched reality come back to us once and for all, she stared right at me, as if she was looking into my soul. Her hazel eyes glinted in the light, opening wide earnestly.

"I hope it will be."

 **Hi :)**

 **So, were any of you shocked by the big reveal or am I awful at surprises? Haha xD So tell me what you thought ^.^ I don't really have much to say this chapter, cos I think it mostly speak for itself, but I do have to say that this is properly coming to an end. I'm calculating 2 or 3 more chapters (plus the epilogue obviously). So that's really exciting, especially considering how far this story has come. Thank you all so much for supporting me all the way to this point :)**

 **We got to the review goal cos you're all that super ;) Can we get to 186 this chapter?**

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	41. Chapter 41

Ian's POV:

Rushing to the location Leah was being held in was a disaster. Firstly, Maisee had no idea where it was because she'd been too out of it. Then Althea started screaming about how her friend had been in danger and she'd had no clue. That led to a bunch of Benedicts looking at her like a rabid animal, whilst the rest of them fumed about him escaping from jail without being informed about it. All the while I stood off to the side, worry eating me up inside. Gray seemed to be the only one thinking clearly, as he looked up the house on google maps.

Luckily, that had all finished, leading to us now being speeding down a random road in the middle of nowhere. I was still brooding and Ally continued to shout every once in a while, but we were on track to everything being resolved. Soon, it would be. All we had to do was swoop in, grab Leah and her family, imprison Maisee's dad _again_ , and get out of their relatively unscathed. My entire family kept informing me that it'd be an easy operation, nothing we hadn't done before.

The only issue was that this time people I really cared about were involved. Not to say that I didn't care about my family, but I was used to them being in danger, and they knew what they were doing. Yet my friends didn't. Leah had a formidable gift, but Maisee's father had her family to use as leverage against her. And Althea was all bark and no bite, although she'd probably hit me if I admitted it out loud. She was the strongest person I knew, that I couldn't deny, but her gift wouldn't help her in a fight, and she was barely 5" tall.

Clenching my hands until my knuckles were white, I tried to ignore the impending doom hanging over my head. If something happened to her I was sure it'd be worse than death. At least dying would be quick, but losing her would drive a knife into my gut that would keep twisting and twisting until I myself followed her same fate. Not allowing the thought to materialise, I stared out the window, hoping it would all just pass quickly.

"Ian, babe, are you alright?" I wanted to scream at Ally that of course it wasn't alright, that everything was wrong. That we'd gone through so much and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed with her and cry. Instead, I didn't even have time to organise my thoughts, being thrust into this situation that left me begging for some peace.

"I'm fine." We were standing outside of the house, after a few hours of a car journey. Everything about this man suggested that he was perfect, with his elegant appearance that Maisee had described and cute cottage house in the middle of the forest. He was using stereotypes in his favour, making me rethink whether this was truly where he was imprisoning Leah.

"I thought we agreed not to lie to each other." She whispered in my ear, batting her eyelashes at me and pouting. At the expression I couldn't help but let a smile creep up on my features, as my hand landed on her waist. I'd missed her and her quirky mannerisms, along with how easily she had me wrapped around her little finger. I didn't even care.

"Sorry. It's just… this is hard. I've only just gotten you back. I don't want you to go." The innocence dropped from her features, replaced by anger. Her eyes became alight, her fists clenching at her sides. All the while, she looked like she was going to hit me.

"There's no way I'm stepping out of this one, Ian. This is the man who tortured me for a month and caused endless pain to my best friend. I'm beating his ass if it's the last thing I do." With a sigh, I looked down, tugging her closer to me.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Our conversation was cut short when Victor and his son came around the corner, flashing us a smile and a thumbs up. I tried to smile back as believingly as possible, but luckily no one was looking closely enough to see that the corners of my lips had drooped.

"Alright, we're ready to get a move on. I've installed a device out back to block any calls, so that Mr Asshole in there can't bring any more buddies." Victor started talking, looking like a sergeant speaking to his soldiers before a mission. He was getting older, with some grey hairs here and there, but he hadn't lost the power that carried in his voice, regardless of whether his gift was in use or not. "The mission is simple. First we scout the area – whoever finds either the man or Leah and her family will send a telepathic message throughout the house. The rescue comes first, the attack second, unless we're forced to re-evaluate the plan. We should only find 4 people in that house, so if you find someone unexpected, give a shout and we'll decide how to proceed. Are we all clear?" Nodding numbly, I felt Althea tighten her arms around me, resting her head on my chest. And it struck me that perhaps she didn't want me going in there either, that despite all the reasons she'd given me for helping out, there was another one – being there to protect me. I wanted to assure her that I'd be fine, but, really, none of us could promise that.

Victor motioned to dad and Zed, who were going in first. The rest of us were only backup, but had all insisted on coming anyway because this was real and it was our problem. All of us would be damned before we left the adults to resolve it. Even Maisee had come, albeit scared out of her mind. I was pretty sure she was cowering behind Gray, although I couldn't see her clearly. Soon, we were called in through telepathy, the four of us making our way inside hesitantly.

The whole of the bottom floor had been scoured and deemed free of people, so we were to take the basement now whilst they looked around the upstairs. They'd insisted on taking the top floor due to it being where Maisee had been kept before, so we begrudgingly marched downstairs, knowing we wouldn't find much. Our assumption was more or less correct, dust motes and lines of cardboard boxes meeting our eyes. But then a whimper broke the delicate silence, sending us all searching with fervour where there had only been trepidation before.

"Leah?" I called quietly, hoping not to attract anyone's attention. Another whimper met my question, leading me to a sobbing man hidden behind a plethora of dusty oddities. He didn't look at all like anyone's descriptions of Petal's father, being brunet with sunken eyes and a grimy appearance. Looking back, I saw we were all staring at him curiously, so decided he was probably not meant to be here, and thus not part of the plan.

"Are you Leah's father?" Asked Ally, the only one of us who was looking at him with something other than pity. There was a fire in her eyes that told me there was reason to believe she didn't think he could be trusted. Then again Ally had a multitude of trust issues so I didn't know how viable that opinion was. Still, I stood back from the man, contacting Victor as quickly as I could. If she didn't trust him then I wouldn't be taking any chances.

 _Victor, we've got a man here. We're not sure if he's Leah's dad._

"Y-yeah, I am." Ally narrowed her eyes even further, while Maisee stepped closer to him.

"Are you alright sir?"

 _He isn't, we've just found Leah and her parents. You're sure it's not Petal's dad?_ Said Victor, making my blood run cold. If this wasn't any one of the people we'd been expecting, and Leah hadn't mentioned him as a prisoner, then who the hell was he?

 _Positive._

 _Get out of there._ Without needing to be told twice, I grabbed Ally's arm, intending to drag her as far away from him as I could. Yet I realised that it wouldn't be as simple as that, Maisee was stretching her hand out to him, her eyes wide and innocent. I loved her, I really did, but it was moments like these which made me doubt her intellect.

"Maisee, don't get closer to him!" Following my instructions without a doubt – as we'd all been told to do – she stepped away, glancing at me with furrowed brows. Gray caught on straight away, holding onto her the way I still was with Ally.

"Ah, so I guess you've figured it out?" He cocked his head at us from the floor, a sadistic smile spreading across his lips. I swallowed hard, the noise of a door shutting closed accompanying my actions. My hand subconsciously tightened around Ally's arm, and not for the first time, I wished we could've just stayed home.

Why did we have to be superheroes in a world of bad guys? Why couldn't we just live our normal, albeit a bit crazy, lives?

And I decided that if we got out of this one alive, that's exactly what I'd do. I'd drag us both as far away from all this mess as physically possible, and if my family wanted to come visit then they could leave all their problems at the front door. I was sick and tired of all of this. Of having to hide my relationship with her for the longest time because we were superheroes that needed our perfect match. Of having to watch my soulfinder waste away on my bed for a month simply because I was near people who fought crime. Of having to go with her into a situation where we could both potentially die.

Of everything. I was tired of everything.

Althea's POV:

The sound of a door slamming closed marked our demise, whilst the man continued to creepily smile at us from the floor.

"You know, I didn't always think this was the life I wanted to lead-" Noticing a backstory coming on, I decided I was sick of bad guys explaining their motives to me. I wanted him gone, especially if he'd aided Maisee's father in hurting us.

"Actually, shut the fuck up." With that as my parting words, I jumped away from Ian, slamming into the man. The action sent us both rolling, as he grunted out in pain.

"You bitch-"

"Nuh uh. I make the calls now." Holding onto his hair, I slammed his head down, trying to knock him unconscious without killing him. However, my hesitation to properly hurt him gave him the upper hand, rolling us over. Pinning me down, he smirked at me, punching me for all he was worth. Luckily it wasn't all that hard, the man seemed to lack in muscle, but it was enough to make my cheek explode in pain. "You fucker!"

Angry at him for being able to beat me and proving me weak, I punched him back, sending him sprawling on the floor beside me. With a groan, he tried to stand back up, but was stopped when Gray pinned him down.

"Now Petal!" The words apparently meant something to her, as she lifted her arms steadily, making vines wrap around his body. "There, now we don't have to beat the guy. Seriously Althea, what were you thinking?" Letting my head fall back against the floor, I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. I was thinking that he'd hurt me so much that my body still ached. I was thinking that during that month I'd felt hopeless and Ian had felt useless, and for once I could finally beat both of our demons. I was thinking that Maisee had been beaten numerous times by the man this asshole associated with, and that I hadn't even known. But in the end, I couldn't say any of that, so I just settled for shrugging, and looking at Ian in hopes that he'd understand.

"Let's not worry about it." He said, coming to my aid. He touched my face gingerly as I leaned into the touch, trying not to wince at how much my cheek and nose hurt. "You look like a mess."

"You should see the other guy." The only response I got to my joke was squinting from Maisee and a dry chuckle from Ian, but I'd take it.

"God, I missed you."

"Why, cos I beat up all the baddies so you don't even have to break a fingernail?" Another chuckle met my words, this one with more humour laced in than the last. Glancing to my left, I saw that Gray and Maisee had forgotten all about us, sinking into their only little world. With a smile, I tried to forget that there was probably a battle going on upstairs, kissing Ian's cheek. Yet, all that shattered when a shout reached our ears, begging for our help.

Reality always has a way of ruining things like that.

 **Hi :)**

 **What did you think of Althea kicking ass? I had a lot of fun writing it, not gonna lie haha. Also, I just thought I should mention that next chapter will most likely be the last (with another chapter for the epilogue obviously). Which I'm really sad about, but all good things come to and end I suppose -.-**

 **And thanks so much to all of you who reviewed, you made me really invested in this story and helped me get it to this point (cos I'm an idiot who needs validation xD ) so thanks for that :) (let's play a counting game, how many times can I say thank you in one sentence? Apprently a whole awful lot .). Can we get to 191 reviews?**

 **Bye bye xx**


	42. Chapter 42

Althea's POV:

All I saw as we rushed upstairs was darkness that creeped in on me. Even when we reached the top floor, which was bleached with white light, I still saw black filling my vision. Leah's scream kept resonating in my head, going off in tune with my pounding headache. It seemed her shout was affecting all of us, our steps becoming sluggish the closer we got to the room it had emanated from.

Ian was blinking blearily, as we both leaned on each other, struggling to take the last few steps to the room. It must be her gift, I reckoned. I'd met people before, Ian included, that when distraught accidentally unleashed their gift on the vicinity. Or maybe she was using it against our attackers and it was seeping into the surroundings. Whatever it was, it was forcing tiredness on all of us, even when we swung the door open and told her to stop.

The scene in front of us when we did so was surreal. Leah stood in the middle of the room, arms out and fear covering her features. Her eyes were screwed shut, but she didn't have anything to be scared of anymore. Everyone in the room was on the ground. Her chest heaved, whimpers and whispers leaving her chapped lips.

"Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, _please_." The words seemed to echo around the room with the power they held, but in reality they weren't more than a mere murmur. The spell of sleep became thicker around us, Maisee being the first to fall. Beside Leah, Maisee's father stirred, a knife still clutched tightly in his hands. Ian's family and Leah's were strewn in a corner, in some cases lying on top of each other. They all had the same peaceful expression on their features, like the sleep she'd submitted them to was so deep it didn't allow worries to permeate it.

"Leah! Leah we're not going to hurt you, but you need to stop." Ian implored, his words slurred. I didn't think I even had it in me to open my mouth, it felt like sandpaper. However, I had to make an effort – she wasn't listening and Ian continued to drop further against the wall. Next us, Gray closed his eyes, Maisee still in his arms. Struggling against the strength of what she was doing, I pushed my foot forward, each step becoming harder and harder.

It was like wading through thick mud, or trying to tell someone that you'd die for them. It's clumsy and you fall many times, but in the end you keep going forward because you know there's no way back. That even _finding_ a way back would be more difficult than ploughing forward and making all the tears and hurt worthwhile. Gritting my teeth, I did just that, pushing and shoving with all my might, until I was next to her. I was the weakest savant here, but no one beat me when it came to determination.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I managed to make her eyes snap open.

"It's ok." I said, smiling weakly. "You're safe now, it's all ok." And with that, I fell too. The last thing I saw were her red-rimmed eyes, with so much fear flooding them that she stained the atmosphere around her with blue sadness. Yet there was also hope sparking in her eyes, and I knew we'd done it. Despite being the weakest link here I'd finished the mission. We could go home. Ian and I could _go home_. It was almost too good to be true. At the same time, we'd been through so much hardship, that if this wasn't real I'd possibly scream. I needed to know that there was good and that we'd find our way to it.

When I woke up, Leah was on the other side of the room, sandwiched in between her parents. Everyone else was still snoring softly, so I guessed she'd removed her spell from them forcefully. It didn't make sense why she'd left us sleeping though, if she had the power to deplete its effect on us. And then I looked at Ian's sleeping face, angelical being the only word I could use to describe it, and I understood. I knew the feeling of having so much sadness around you, having it only worsened by the pain you were putting other people through. I knew the feeling of having that sorrow be so overpowering that you'd do anything to remove it – if not from you then from everyone else.

Her eyes still held tears in them, but she had a small smile on her lips, and I wanted to believe that what I'd said was true. That she was ok, that she'd truly find happiness at the end of the dark tunnel we'd all gone through. For the first time since I met her, I felt pity for her, even with all the pain she'd caused me and the people I loved.

Our eyes met as she looked up sharply, a doe-caught-in-headlights expression in her eyes. She relaxed a fraction once she noticed that it was just me, nodding at me. I nodded back, and a sort of understanding coursing through the action. It was me forgiving her. It was her saying she wasn't fighting me anymore. It was all the pent of emotion of these few months finally coming undone, making sense for once. Then she motioned to where Ian lay peacefully against the wall, and a whole different emotion covered her features. But it wasn't about the sadness there, nor the poorly veiled discontent. It was about the fact that she looked like she could move on from this convoluted situation we'd formed.

"I'm sorry." I said, the words tasting weird in my mouth. And instead of going to Ian, I crawled over to Leah. "We both hated each other for a really long time because of this stupid issue. So what would you say to a truce? Ian and I… we're soulfinders. But I get that it hurts to watch the person you love with someone else."

"Don't worry about me. I understand now." That's all she said, but it was enough. We weren't about to hug and become besties, but we'd reached a mutual sympathy for each other, which felt like something akin to an alliance. With another short nod, I left her side, finally making my way over to Ian. His features were smoothened out for the first time since we'd run away, and the surge in my heart was stronger than anything I'd felt in months. I kissed him softly, while his eyes opened lazily.

"Ally?"

"The one and only."

"Did everything…?" He didn't need to say anything else, as I gave him a small grin.

"Yeah, everything's ok." Never had words ever meant so much to me. The smile he gave me then was enough to light up my entire world. My chest felt like it was exploding from the simple gesture, the thought that I had him all to myself without any problems being too astounding to conceive.

"I love you."

"I love you too." The words came easily, because everything was ok and everything made sense.

"I'm so glad you're alright." He mumbled, brushing a strand of hair from my forehead. I wanted to nuzzle into his chest and forget the outside world existed, but that would mean forfeiting the chance to gaze into his eyes for the rest of forever, so I stayed still. An elated smile was still stubbornly tugging the edges of my lips, and I didn't even refuse it.

"You're such a sap." After a beat of silence, I spoke again. "But I was really worried about you too."

"So, what do we do now?" It was a little bit early on to already be thinking of our next adventure, but I realised he was right. All the things that had happened in the past months had been caused by this. Our lives would seem ordinary in comparison.

"Run away with me again?" I asked, a teasing glint in my eyes. Yet somewhere in my words there was some hope that we could. Some hope that we could go back to the feeling of liberty of those days in which nothing mattered and we were just another insignificant part of the forest.

"We will. Properly this time."

"Oh?"

"Without worrying everyone sick and causing grief. No, this time there'll be no troubles to follow us there – we'll get a house and jobs and we'll even see our families every once in a while. But we'll be able to leave all this bullshit behind. Leave the superheroes to do their job. I just want to be happy." His arms crushed me to his chest, a heaving breath vibrating underneath me.

"That sounds perfect." And it did.

"It will be if you're there."

All the while, my words kept resonating in my head. Everything was ok. And it would just keep getting better.

 **Hi :)**

 **Last chapter :'( I mean we've still got the epilogue to go, but there's no more plot-important chapters. Which feels a bit surreal, I can't believe it all started with a few chapters written cos I was bored back in January. And I'm really glad I got to share that experience with you guys - and that you enjoyed it (which I still sometimes find hard to believe haha, cos it seems too amazing to be true).**

 **I'll say my proper thanks like I did in Fixing Petal next chapter, but I wanted to do a mini one here, cos I really am so thankful that you've all supported me so much throughout this. I mean I never even imagined I could have this many reviews. It's... absolutely incredible, and it's made me so ridiculously happy. So thank you all, I wouldn't have gotten here without you guys :)**

 **Bye bye xx**


	43. Chapter 43

Althea POV:

And get better it did.

We got home when it was already getting dark outside, the whole world quietening down to a hush. No one talked in the car, the relief of all getting back being so heavy that it settled over all of us like a blanket. Ian and I were huddled in the back, heads laying against each other and hands intertwined in his lap. It was peaceful, like everything had fallen into place and there was nothing that could go wrong.

Even when I saw my parent's car in the Benedict's drive way my mind didn't register that anything wrong could possibly happen – surely after all the hardship we'd been put through only good things could ensue. And they did.

I found my parents huddled on the couch, backs ramrod straight and expressions of practiced stoicism on their features. Sky gave me an apologetic glance, but I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. I wasn't in the mood to be angry, nor do much of anything. I was floating in this haze where things didn't seem real. If things didn't exist, then surely they couldn't hurt me.

And yet when our eyes met, I still took a step backwards, remembering their hateful words and their spite and the cavernous silence that had stood between them and myself last time we'd talked. The silence that implied that they didn't even care about me leaving enough to dignify me with words. However, all the hurt in my chest disappeared when my mother's lips shook, the redness in her eyes becoming apparent.

They didn't allow any other emotion to shake their façade, but it was enough. So when I went towards them and asked the unavoidable question of what they were doing here, they didn't need words to reply. In that moment I realised that perhaps all this time I'd seen the silence between us as them being ok with my absence, when in reality it meant they couldn't convey what they wanted to with words.

"We were worried about you Althea." Mum said, making me swallow hard. Her tone was aloof and formal like always, but I detected a hint of love filtering through. Perhaps I'd been so intent on insisting that they didn't care about me that I didn't want to see that they could.

"You kicked me out." I told her, trying to keep some accusation in my statement. It all faded away when her eyes softened.

"Your father insisted that we- that we had to take care of the company's image." The sentence caused my dad to step forward, his eyes still set hard. There was no indication of human emotion under it all, but in that second I didn't care. Things were good, and I wasn't about to let his inability to drop his mask get to me.

"I was wrong to do that. Sky informed us that you've been unconscious for the most part of this past month. It has made us realise that despite you being… unorthodox, we love you all the same." My father began, keeping his eyes diverted to the side as if what he was saying was physically paining him to let out. Yet just as they weren't perfect and were emotionally constipated, I was weird and too loud, so I wasn't in any position to hold a grudge. Even still, I found it hard to forgive them, after all the hardship they'd given me for just being different.

"What we're trying to say," Mum took the lead again, looking almost afraid that dad was going to say something that would ruin the slight glimmer of hope in my eyes. "Is that we'd like you to move back in with us."

Immediately, I backed up from where I'd been standing in front of them, knocking into Ian. His arm shot out, steadying me as I teetered on the edge of everything coming undone. I was barely holding it together, even if things were meant to be going better, my parents being here reminded me that there were still problems ahead.

Just as I was about to run, Ian pulled me closer wrapping me in his arms. His lips went to my ear and with a soft whisper, he said all he needed to hold me in place.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Regardless of what you do, I'm here." With a deep breath, I inhaled his scent of _home_ , and slowly made up my mind.

"I- I'm sorry. But I can't do it." I told them, with a tight-lipped smile. "I'd love us to be a family again, but I won't feel at home with you." Leaning into Ian's touch, I left it very clear who my family here was. The ones who'd kept me in their house, comatose, for a month desperately trying to find help for me despite not knowing me. The ones that had been by my side through all my problems, even when Ian and I pushed them away. Most importantly, it was Ian, and I wanted to stay with him at least until the shock of what happened left me. Until being around him again felt like the norm, rather than the lovely exception.

Spreading my hand back, I searched, finding Ian's there. Without hesitation, he intertwined our fingers, making us into an unmoveable, indestructible force. We were no longer running away from our problems and thinking the world was against us. For once, we were a united force, but we were moving towards the world rather than away.

~4 years later~

I smiled. I clenched my fists. I smoothened out a non-existent wrinkle in my dress. I played with some of the white lace. Suddenly, my actions were halted by someone's hand on my shoulder, making my hand still on the dress. Maisee's face appeared besides mine in the mirror, eyes shining in elation. I nervously grinned in response, my hand resuming its fiddling with that loose bit of lace.

"Stop that, you'll break it." She berated, slapping my hand away lightly. All I could do was give her another tight smile, not trusting my voice. "Are you ok?" Her excitement was dimmed as she finally noticed how frazzled I looked. I'd had 6 months to come to terms with the fact that my boyfriend would soon become my husband – and 5 years to assimilate the fact that I had a soulfinder. But this whole situation still felt unreal. Like I was about to wake up, gasping for breath, and think 'what a weird dream'.

"I'm fine." I'd know it was a nice dream, one that left me feeling happy and different –dreams like have a tendency to change the way we view things – but it'd be too good to be true. I'd wake up, still 16, with a recollection of memories of a grey-eyed boy whom I loved to the end of infinity, and all I'd be able to do would be forget about it. Because dreams as wonderful as this, that change the way you think and fell, they only happen to wonderful people.

A knock on the door interrupted our stare-down through the mirror, Ian's voice cutting through the silence. He sounded jovial and as happy as I'd ever heard him.

"Babe, love you!" He called through the door, thundering footsteps accompanying his words, resounding across the corridor. Gray's shouts soon joined the noise, his voice laced with laughter.

"Dude! You're gonna get like 7 years of bad luck!" Gray was telling him off and Ian was protesting in the background, and I still hadn't seen his face, but none of that mattered. All I'd needed to hear were his words of reassurance, to ground me and tell me it would all be ok. This couldn't be a dream, I was here and I was real. I'd truly found someone who was perfect by being imperfect. And in his eyes I was a wonderful person who deserved to live this absolutely beautiful dream.

I teared up as Maisee lay her head against my shoulder. The room was silent once again, but we didn't need to express how we were feeling to notice it. Heaviness hung in the air, yet now it was charged with a happiness that buzzed. I was impalpable. At the same time, it was so real I could almost taste it on my tongue, sweet and sour and oh so lovely. I could almost touch it with my fingertips, soft and crackling with unshed energy. Most of all, I could feel it pulsing in my heart.

As I watched Ian from across the corridor made by the pews, I felt as if the whole world froze, waiting with baited breath. I myself stopped breathing for a second, forgetting how to do anything other than look at him. His hair was neatly combed up, probably by Crystal's able hands, into a hairstyle that made him look dashingly handsome, all sharp cheekbones and soft hair and gray eyes that smouldered me, even from so far away.

My father tugged at my hand, shooting me a look that clearly said I needed to get going. Our relationship had improved throughout the years, but it had never lost its edge. We were just too incompatible. But that was ok, I was making my own life now, and it started right here.

I swallowed hard, unable to look away from Ian and take a step forward. It was as if I was 5 again and had made a fort out of blankets and pillows, all draping against one another in one beautiful, chaotic construction. The space had been too small and I'd had to use a flashlight despite it being the middle of the day, but I didn't care. Because in that cramped fort, the rest of the world fell away. Nothing existed, apart from me and the feeling of happiness in my chest. It was crazy to think that simply his eyes were enough to get me into that trance now.

 _Beautiful_. He whispered into my mind. It was so awed, the words said breathlessly despite not needing air at all, so I knew he didn't mean to say them. That made them all the more winsome. I took a faltering step forward, my heart beating an uneven tune in my chest. Once I got started, I had to restrain myself from sprinting down the aisle to him. At some point I decided it wasn't worth the self-restraint, and ran straight into his arms. He stumbled, that same blazing look still in his eyes.

Someone cleared their throat behind us, and so, the ceremony began. Possibly the most unorthodox the friar had conducted. It would've been even odder if Maisee had let me get away with my plans, but unfortunately she'd put her foot down in regards to me having a black wedding dress.

I must've mumbled 'I do' because suddenly we were kissing and there was clapping in the background. I felt… whole. Like I was back in that tiny fort, but now there was someone next to me to make it feel less dark. I smiled into the kiss, Ian's lips quirking upwards in response. Yes, this all felt like a dream. But I supposed fairy tales had to come true every once in a while.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you more." And that was it. For the rest of forever it was 'Althea and Ian', fighting against the world. Yet, as I looked around the room, I felt a lot more like I was part of something bigger. Everyone else wasn't our enemy, they weren't. Maisee was crying on the front row, with Gray holding her and looking pretty tear-eyed himself. My parents were straight-faced like always, but each had a small smile on their faces. Ian's family was of course the loudest, whooping and whistling whilst I laughed.

It wasn't us against the world. It never had been.

I'd never felt so absolutely exuberant, my chest feeling heavy with love for all the wonderful people in this room. So what did I do? Why, the thing people do at weddings. I cried. Ian didn't miss the action, chuckling whilst placing a hand on my waist to pull me closer.

"Those tears better be from happiness babe."

"I just… I love everyone so much. I'm so _happy_."

"That's so sweet. You're so sweet."

"I love you."

"Going for a second already?" He joked, but then sobered up, kissing me slowly and sweetly. "I love you more than you could ever imagine." I had a good idea though, the love in my chest feeling enough to reach the end of the universe.

 **Hi :)**

 **Oh my god guys, the epilogue is finally here :'( Sorry it took me so long to post it btw, apparently college takes up quite a bit of your time haha. I also wanted it to be perfect, and I think this is as close to perfect as I'm gonna get. So tell me what you thought!**

 **Ok, now, mentions!**

 **Lofta1995- Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews, it's so nice to know I have a cheerleader in the background haha. We talk on PM loads so there's not much for me to say here but thank youuuuu xx**

 **Lissa - Wow, you've been here since like day one (** ** _literally_** **) which is so amazing because I love your reviews. I never really get to properly thank you cos you're on guest mode, but let me tell you, I am so thankful for your kickass reviews. One day if yo ever get an account, we've gotta talk**

 **Sabinethafangirl - You're another one of the people who's always there, and you're honestly so nice. Also your writing's amazing, so anyone reading this go check out like all of her stories, you'll love them, promise. But yh so overall I just wanted to thank you for being such an amazing human being :D**

 **Guests - I never get to say thank you properly, cos I don't even know your names, but whoever you guys are, you're the best. You constitute like 50% of all reviews, so that's pretty impressive, and you deserve a mention too. So treat yourself to a cookie ;)**

 **Alrighty, I don't** ** _think_** **I've missed anyone, but I've been known to before so if I have please don't feel offended! All of your reviews are great, and I've loved every second of writing this story thanks to you guys. This is, unfortunately, the end of Hearing Althea, but watch out for a possible sequel with Kaia (which I'm still writing plot ideas for, so won't be published very soon :/ )**

 **Thank you!**

 **Bye bye xx**


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